The pine trees looked down at me, whispering something I couldn’t understand. Bright stains of autumn trees peaked out from between the evergreens. I searched the ground for mushrooms and pine cones and little frogs. I looked for the windows into the tiny world that went on below us. I bent down, hearing the crunch and squelch of mud and sticks and leaves beneath my boots.
The sounds were endless, a song the forest played on repeat for all to enjoy. The only song one couldn’t tire of. The hiss of the wind through the pine needles. The chorus of birds you could hear but never see. I wanted to stay here forever. I wanted to lie down in the underbrush and close my eyes, let the vines and flowers wrap me up.
The world beyond was terrible and I didn’t want to face it. But I knew I couldn’t stay here. If I stayed, the song might get tiresome, the tiny world might close its curtains and vanish. The birds might fly away. I would come and lie down in the underbrush and listen. Then I would go and come back another time. The forest was special. It wouldn’t be special anymore if I stayed.
I breathed in the wind and listened to the shy words of the trees. I watched ants climb the bark of the pines, I let the birds sing their chorus. But now I had to go. I turned back and searched the ground for the footpath. The forest didn’t say goodbye, but be-seeing-you. The world greeted me as I left the veil of the trees. The sounds were harsh and the smells bitter, but I could still hear the forest’s song playing in my mind.
And with the promise of return, I went back to my life as it was. Only now, I knew there was more out there waiting for me when I needed it.
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