Creative Writing

Wandering in the Woods

"Finally, a bit of fresh air." He breathed the air in through his nostrils. He hadn't been back in years. Would things be different now, or would they be the same? He began walking down the trail behind the old house. He'd guessed it would have taken someone dying for him to return here, and he'd been right. His mother had to practically threaten him to come to the funeral of his distant uncle who he had met twice and vaguely remembered playing the saxophone.

The first thing he came across were the gardens. They were old, unkept. They needed maintenance, but the house was already expensive enough to keep up. Until the market started doing better, the garden would have to remain looking like a Unitarian graveyard. However, as he passed through the place where his mother would trim roses and raise tomatoes, he was reminded of the times he spent trying to help. Of course, he only ever made a mess and extended the work by a minimum of half an hour, but his mother never complained. She taught him all about the flowers and plants, the nutrients and how they grew. He smiled. He would run around for hours in that garden. The overgrown vines and leaves seemingly disappeared, and he could see the garden in all its glory again. "If that deal goes through on Monday, maybe I can help out Mom some. I bet I could hire a gardening service to clean this place out, replant the flowers and start growing some herbs and stuff."

At the edge of the gardens, he found the old ponds. Once, they were full of all sorts of fish, especially koi. Their family had such magnificent koi that, when restaurants and other such establishments were planning on putting in a pond, they called them for some koi. Johnston, the family cat, would watch those fish for hours, but he'd learned pretty quickly not to go after them, or someone would give him a good smack, either a family or staff member or perhaps even the fish itself. Now, the ponds were much like the gardens, old and runover. They were full of algae, and it had been many years since they'd contained the beautiful koi. He remembered his first pet was this bright golden koi that he'd named "Goldilocks." She'd lived for years, outliving many others. "While I hired some gardeners, I bet some landscape artists could come in and redo this entire area. Maybe we could get more than koi this time, some other exotic fish. Yeah, I know Dad would love that."

He finally left the pond and continued towards the woods. At the edge, his foot hit something hard. He stumbled back a bit before bending over to see what it was. It was a metal plate. It read, "Now entering King Georgie's Kingdom. Have permission before you enter." He smiled. He'd forgotten all about this sign. His family jokingly called the woods on their property his own kingdom, so for his eighth birthday, his father had gotten a local metalworker to create that for him. He looked around and saw large stones that once formed an archway leading into the woods. He stepped over the rocks and entered the overgrown forest. There once were many trails leading through it. He'd had them all memorized as a child. However, as he let himself wander, he found he remembered them. He discovered the six-way crossroads, where legend said that all magical creatures gathered on the new moon. He found his old fort, taken back by nature. He was amazed at all the things he saw and recalled. It was like stepping back into his childhood.

He eventually returned to the old house. It was a mansion, but he would never call it that. His wife approached him and joked around, saying that she didn't know he was raised by royalty. "Don't be silly. If we lived in England... maybe." His wife laughed.

"Did you enjoy your little adventure?"

"I did... I did."