The Forest

A Fiery Emblem

The forest landscape had changed.  It now held a new dimension of depth.  Vardatia was silenced.  Jack had a commanding sense of his presence.  And beneath their feet, roots flourished in a world that stole back all that was taken from them, yet there was an equal and uncompromising opposing force that was holding them still.  They watched.  They listened.  And they felt the silence of vines underground evading the evil that spilled out from above.  

The two appeared to be motionless, side by side, as the forest began revolving around them like a story unraveling its plot.  But they were in fact taking steps, walking in strides of certainty, along a fabric of vines that forced their way through a ground so eager to contain them.  They emanated the fiercest colors, simmering brilliantly with a wise knowledge of a foundation it would build.  Their reach extended as far as their eyes would take them in every direction.  

Jacks' eyes glazed over with a reflection of choices scattering their way in front of him. They were equally mesmerized by the thick vines and sprouts of tentacles merging together, investing their worth amongst the soil, as if they knew the way.  He reached down to the ground, his arm extending out, making a path for Jule to climb up onto his shoulder.  

"I've never seen anything like this before Jule, have you?"  

His little body quivered nestled beside Jack's check, showing signs of a memory.  Shaking his head methodically, he seemed very sure of himself.

"I have never seen anything like this before.  But I remember what it felt like."

The voice nestled beside him was growing familiar.

"That vine lead me to a very tall tree with long branches and huge leaves.  It was so tall, I couldn't even see to the top.  I followed it a long time until I couldn't see it anymore.  And the one you're standing on, with the prism of light under you that goes on forever in the distance, I followed it walking in."

"Walking in to where Jule?"

"Walking into the forest to meet you."

Jack stared in wonder.  His thoughts indulged a mind next to him that seemed to know more than he.  

"What about this one?  Did you follow this one?" 

Jule watched intently as the stick Jack held began to trace a ghostly-bright root, with no obvious origin, along the ground.  It lead to a tree that stood bare of leaves or any life.  It was standing tallest amongst a collection of trees in the distance.  So tall it could see the tips of the leafless branches of trees surrounding it.  

"I didn't follow it, but always knew it was there," he whispered to himself. 

"Do, do you think we should follow it Jule?"

"I think it wants us to follow it."

They obliged and followed along where the stick traced the ghostly vine ahead of them. Out of the dense arrangement of fir trees and alongside a stream bed that weaved its way across a field lit by the night sky, they risked a path taking them to the empty garden of trees.  The decisive choice of intuition alive between them carried a reason to continue.  They knew the forest had to be speaking a vision right there in front of them.  

At the edge they stood, small to a forest inside, inviting them into a shadow of trees that swarmed around a towering centerpiece.  Jack stood alone with his humility.  The sky was open and clear.  He smiled.  He closed his eyes and imagined himself standing in his backyard again, capturing the last rays of sun before going inside.  Tiny leaves flickered above him, swirling in misguided patterns like tiny dances of butterflies en route to springtime.  It felt like a million years since he heard her words call him.  

Inside, a boy was listening. The voice he knew he could count on. It was the same one that sounded just like him. He knew these words were meant to pave a context of survival and a necessity of resilience.  As the words descended on him, the image became real.  

And as the figure stood closer to him, breathing in more words, all but a tiny morsel of energy remained in the stick, glistening as a fiery emblem of light at its tip.

In a barely audible voice, she reached out and whispered to him, "It belongs to me."

"I was there when you entered the forest Jack.  I was the wind at your back.  You were the one who dreamed me into life.  And you stood like a man when no one else was watching.  I remember the weight of a child too small to bear it."

"Where are we?"

"You are here.  Here amongst the trees in the only place that ever gets sunlight on this side of the forest. It never moves. It stays in one place where you can feel a glow on every part of your body. It lets in unconditional sunshine that warms you from the inside and takes you to a place you know very well. You are always safe here. No one can ever hurt you as long as you remain standing here. But if you decide to leave, the forest will turn cold again." 

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you are of me and I owe you my words.  One day, you will follow your steps through the forest backwards in your mind and you will find what wasn't seen."  

"But is this the end of the path?"

The figure in front of him was growing his interest, shaping into a life-like form he now trusted.  Her appearance, draped in a soft wind, remembered a story.  

"The mountains you climb become the valleys you loathe. When you reach a summit, you will find yourself surrounded by more greater than you. Then you will decide the route. You will see beauty in the climb together and you will find destruction left from beauty your world never found. There will be shadows on your way to remind you that they too cannot exist without the sun to give them life."

"But...can you help me find my way back home?"

"You are already finding your way.  The vine you followed will never end. It begins here.  And under the leafless trees you see cluttering the sky above you, lies a trinity of knowledge you have yet to dream.  Never leave the presence of this forest and it will always reside inside of you."  

"Can I stay here with you then?"

"Yes, you can stay here with me for as long as you like.  You have a remarkable story to tell."