Where The Trees Turn Purple

Broken Silence

      Light streamed through the smashed stained glass windows creating a warm golden glow that illuminated the inside of the run down building. With the exception of a few rotting benches and a decapitated platform covered in dirt and fallen leaves, the room was barren. The building was slowly being taken over by nature itself, forgotten in time by the people who once inhabited it. To any onlooker's eye it would look completely lifeless yet when the plant life came so did creatures big and small. Mice and other rodents along with a variety of birds now claimed the ruins for themselves.
      But at this moment not a bird soared or a mouse squeaked. In fact not even the usually playful wind was stirring; it was as if the forest was holding its breath waiting for something but unsure what. The snapping of twigs sounded through the still forest with the likeness of a gunshot and a lone field mouse darted out of the underbrush taking refuge under one of the buildings sagging steps. Several more twigs snapped before the sound of grunting fractured the silence.
       A small bear cub came tearing into the clearing in a frenzy of childish excitement; soon its tired mother came strolling into the clearing as well as another, smaller cub. At first the mother bear ignored her cubs wide eyed wonder at the ruined building and started across the clearing towards a cluster of berry bushes. She had come here every summer since she was their age; the awe of the place no longer had any effect on her.
       Yet as she stood there listening to her cubs play around the ruins, she couldn't help but remember her first time here and how mystified she had been. Her mind wasn't able to wander far before the lone call of a nightingale reminded the mother bear what they had come here for. She let out a low grunt to tell her energetic cubs that it was time to work. The group set to work eating as many of the berries as they could until both mother and cubs had blue stained fur around their mouths. Finally the now well fed group started making their way back through the thicket around the clearing just as the suns last rays gave goodnight hugs to the earth.