A boy found himself drawn towards the forest by an invisible force. The trees loomed over him and the deeper he went the darker and denser it became. His beating heart matched each crunch of his feet on the forest floor. The wind blew past him, rattling the trees leaves and sending a shiver down to his very core. Still, he pressed on, entranced by the faint humming he heard sweeping through the old bent trees. He followed the musical voice, paying no regard to where he was going and yet he did not trip on any of the trees exposed roots; it was as if he was gliding over the ground.
Then the music stopped, and for a moment the boy feared his heart had done the same as the whole forest stood still. It was a terrible feeling, to be alone in the middle of the woods and yet hear nothing; not birds, no animals, even the wind had stopped. The boy waited, afraid to be the one to break the silence, but then the tiniest laugh echoed past the trees and brought a warmth with it that he had never felt before.
“Shhh…” a soft voice whispered through the trees and the boys legs were propelled forward as he pushed past a wall of brush coming to an abrupt halt in a large open clearing. The boy’s head tilted up as he gazed in awe at the deep, blue sky above him. He leaned forward, surveying the land; his eyes coming to rest on the figure of a young girl standing in the middle of the clearing.
The girl smiled at him and started up her soft humming that drowned out the rest of the world so only her voice could be heard. She wore a frilled, blue dress of lace and yet branches seemed to grow from its very fabric. The girl’s hair was like golden sunlight, but among its ringlets sat a bird’s nest, nestled into the waves of her tresses. The boy could never have imagined something as beautiful as she and yet he could not bring himself to walk towards her.
“Shhh…” she whispered again, pressing a delicate finger to her lips as she suppressed a soft giggle and twirled for him, although she did not move from her spot. Her dress frilled out as she spun, lifting into the air and revealed to him the rough brown bark that was her legs. The girl giggled again as her dress came back to rest and she blew the boy a small kiss.
“Come and visit me…” she smiled and her eyes twinkled like stars, so beautiful that the boy could not take his eyes off them, forgetting, or rather not caring about the tree trunk that was the girl’s legs. She twirled on the spot for him again, the place where wood met skin giving off a glow that allowed her to move.
“Please visit me… please… Please!” and suddenly the girl’s voice became shrill and panicked and the sound of metal and industrial machines pierced the air. There was a blinding light and the boy backed away shielding his eyes and tumbling backwards onto the mossy ground.
“Help me!” the girl screamed again but the boy could not bring his eyes to open, could not bring himself to look upon the blinding scene before him and when the quietness fell over the forest again and the chill of night filled the air, he finally opened his eyes and found himself no longer in a forest, but in a graveyard. Where tall mighty trees once stood, now only stumps were left and he looked at the center of the clearing, not to find the girl, but to find the stump that had been left behind. The boy felt an aching in his heart, a hole that could never be filled and he wished, more than anything, that he had done something to stop it.
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