The Truth about the Forest

It was a very dark night.

The moon shied away from the sky leaving it inky black with no stars in sight.

The sound of the wolves howling roused her from her very restless sleep. The forest had provided her with a makeshift bed of pine needles. she had accepted the gift graciously as she couldn’t find a better option in that terrible place, and her soft skin cringed at the thought of tree roots and pebbles jabbing her in the ribs all night, had she chosen the bare forest floor instead.

Eerie sounding howls sent shivers down her spine , making her frail body tremble with uncovered fear. in the moonless night, the forest seemed completely different than the way it looked through the mirror. Thankfully, the crows have disappeared. glowing eyes would have been too much for her poor heart to take. Startled, she got up. it seemed impossible to go back to sleep with all the worry filling her quivering heart.

As she sat thinking, a flick of light danced into her range of vision. Like a miniature light bulb suspended in the air before her eyes. it was a firefly. She has never been happier to see a bug in her entire life!

not willing to let go of the only source of light in the gloomy darkness of the forest, she followed the firefly. transfixed by the brightness of this little flick of light. walking, stumbling and tripping over bulging tree roots, but never, never, taking her eyes off of the firefly.

suddenly, the firefly zoomed between the barks of the trees so fast that she lost track of it!

like someone who had been hypnotized, she suddenly realized that she could not recognize her surroundings.

This place had a lake. She never realized that there was a lake here…tall trees surrounded the lake and covered it with dark shadows. right above the black surface of the water, a large opening between the tree tops formed a perfect oval. that if the moon was full and in the middle, it would have resembled an eye.

the sound of rippling water dragged her eyes to the lake, where she saw a swan. pretty and white in the water.

be at ease ,child. she heard in her head.

but it’s so dark. i’m afraid.

fear is only in your mind, child. fight it. let the beauty of heaven take over.

From behind, she heard the sound of leaves crushing beneath someone’s feet. she froze.

Moments later a lion stood by her side. she stared at it, open mouthed and scared to the bones.

Only the lion didn’t seem to notice her presence.

It nodded slightly, and she was surprised to see the swan nodding back with it’s pretty white head then spreading it’s wings and soaring into the night sky. It was a stunningly beautiful sight.

as her daze dissipated, she returned her sight to the lion, only to see it staring directly at her.

the mane surrounding the lion’s head was so golden and bright, that it seemed to shimmer in the darkness of the forest.

Inexplicably ,fear left her heart at once. and warmth took it’s place.

that is right, child.

this isn’t a trap?

only if you believe it to be.

she swore she saw the lion smile warmly at her.

..and on a whim, she wrapped her arms around the lion’s luminous mane and nuzzled his neck.

it was the safest place in the world.

warm.

safe.

untouchable.

and what felt like a trap before turned out to be a piece of heaven.

the mirror can disappear for all I care. she thought with a smile.