Within this forest....a short story

Every time she turned onto the country road to make her way down to her home, she would slow down. Way down. And, peer, searching for someone she knew was there.

In all of the years she had been making the drive, she had never seen anyone …but she could feel the presence. She had that iggling feeling deep in the pit of her stomach…because she knew someone or something was there.

Sometimes she would roll down her windows and listen. Just listen. For rustling, for a cracking of a branch, for something to let her know who was waiting. And, why.

After too many years this ritual had become a daily routine. Finally one unusually warm afternoon in early , she pulled off, on the side of the road, turned off her car’s engine, and got out. Slamming the door behind her, she stepped away from the car.

‘Here I am, ‘ she thought.

Alone. Completely surrounded by the forest on all sides with the exception of this tiny road that lead to homes miles away. That should have been enough warning. That should have been the signal. That should have been the reason she turned and hurried back to her car, turned on the engine, and moved on down the winding road.

It was not.

She did none of those things. She simply stood there realizing the sun was continuing to wane. She was drawn, sucked in to this place, and could not leave at that point, even as she knew she should.

There was a path of sorts into the woods. There were stately pines everywhere on all sides of her. Some underbrush, some with thorns grabbed at her clothing as she began to make her way deeper into that place.

Along the way, a squirrel would scamper up to higher branches in a tree. The raucous sound of several annoying crows would trickle down to where she was. There were some unidentified sounds bouncing off of trees above and below. And, then deafening silence. No other sound could be heard short of her breath and the sounds of crunching branches as her feet moved through the underbrush in spots where it was the thickest.

She turned and found her car was no longer visible. It took some effort to struggle through some of the wooded and unfamiliar place. She was so warm that she pulled off the jacket she had thrown on earlier in the day. Her one regret was that she had not put on walking shoes that morning; her customary shoes, flip flops, were on my feet, so she already had a few scratches from limbs and briars.

‘No biggie,’ she thought, ‘I am a country girl. A few little scratches are nothing.’

Deeper and deeper into the woods, she moved until she heard a low growl. Then, snarling that came from deep down inside of some animals, the angry place.

There, just ahead were Wolves? Here? There are no wolves here. They were though. Directly in front of her, less than ten feet from where she was standing, were three very large, stark white wolves with fur thicker than any she had ever.seen. Her mind was racing. Not understanding how this could be happening, her impulse to run was stifled. She knew she could not. Facing her fear. Not bravely. One of her greatest feara was of any stranger's dog and now this!!!

‘Go away’ , ‘go away,’ she shouted. ‘Go away.” She heard the words escape from her mouth. That had always worked when she was taking her daily walk in her neighborhood and was confronted with stray dogs. These were not dogs but she had to try something. Anything.

Not moving.

These guys were NOT moving. She was on their turf. Their lips were curled up and they wore long, toothy grins. They were grinning. They had her trapped. She had no weapon of any kind. She had always carried a stick when she walked around the neighborhood just in case. Not this time She should have never come into these woods without being protected. She should have at least found a stick as she moved along. She hadn't thought this through.

She stood her ground. Gingerly, ever so carefully, barely moving her feet at all, she backed up some. As she did, the three of them moved just that much closer. In the deep places, the recesses, oh, whatever they're called, fear was creeping in…strangling her. She knew what would happen if they would surround her. If one was behind her , and the others were strategically placed, she would have no way to escape.

She just stood there. Unable to move.

She kept saying, ‘Get away from here, get away from here, go on.’ That sickening kind of panic had wrapped itself around her now but she knew she could not let them know. She had read or heard that animals smelled fear and that made prey even more vulnerable.

All of the 'don't evers' she had heard or read or who cared where they came from...they were all rolling around in her head. The other one was about the eyes. What was it? O, yes, don't maintain eye contact. DO NOT LOOK THEM IN THE EYES. That was it..when confronted with unwelcoming dogs, no eye contact. These were not dogs, she knew that, but it would make sense not to try to challenge these creatures in any way either. She struggled with that. It was almost impossible not to look. She wanted to try to see what they were thinking. Stupid! She could see what they were thinking!! They were thinking…’here’s dinnnnner.”

Drenched now. Sweat pouring off her, running, feeling like ice water running down the center of her back and down into her eyes, burning them as it went. She took off her glasses, pulled up her shirt and wiped her face. And she resumed her stance. She had no choice.

It was strange. It seemed they got bored. Or tired of hearing her shout at them. But just as quickly as they had appeared before her, they were gone. She did not see which way they went …they must have run off as she took off her glasses. Relieved but not completely. They were gone. But not really. They were out there. Somewhere.

The sun had begun to drop lower now.

And she was lost inside this maze of brambles, brush, branches with those three wolves. The thought of it made her shudder.

. Retracing her steps to the car sounded like a plan. If she knew where to retrace. Her friends and family had always joked with her that she would get lost in a paper bag. They were right. Unless she was facing north she had no idea what direction the other directions were.

Now she knew the sun set in the west and that is the direction the sun was heading but her problem was this. She did not know what direction she had come in on. The sun was almost directly over head when she came into the woods. She had had lunch with her daughter and her family; the meal had ended about noon. She came into the forested area shortly after that.

Disoriented, concerned, but trying to be calm, she leaned against a tree to think. She had always loved trees. All sizes. All shapes. All kinds. She often told others she believed that in another life that she had been a tree. So being comforted there by that tree kept her from utter despair.

Even as she leaned against the tree she felt her fear assuaged. Calm filled her. And she knew these trees had something to do with why she was in these woods. These trees had been waiting for her. They had been waiting for her to enter their home. They had drawn her there. As she leaned on the tree her fears dissipated.

She must have fallen asleep or blacked out because when she opened her eyes she was unsure of where she was and how she got there.

Still not fearful. Still at peace. She found that she was in the same woods. Just ahead was a clearing. A welcoming clearing. Standing in a meadow, she was surrounded by a scene of pristine beauty: lush grasses, vibrantly green, tall, stately pines whose sap filled the air, crystal clear skies and calm.. No sign of the 21^st century.

Puzzled. Wondering. Drinking in all she saw. She realized she was not alone. From the other side of the meadow, walking toward her were those from whom she was descended, dressed in garb she had seen in picture books. Those pictures had not captured the beauty of these gentle faces or of their clothing. Native Americans were approaching her. Not from one tribe, but representatives from different nations of Natives: Comanche, Seminole,Timucuan, Apache, and others, joined for a common goal. Past wars and disagreements were put aside.

A few of the group approached her. As they got closer, she could understand what they were thinking. She knew no one was ever going to believe this. She could understand their thoughts.They sat on the ground no sounds, no words spoken but they were communicating. She asked many questions, many of which were unanswered.

There was a reason she had been invited, allowed to come there. She was to be a Messenger. She was to go back to her time, her world, and live her life differently.

She was to enlist a following to help her in her mission. The mission was to teach others how to learn to make peace with the planet. She was asking how??

“It will come. You will know when you are back there. You will not remember us. You will not remember this place. You will remember what your mission is though. And you will begin it and others will follow. For so many years, no one has listened. We have been able to see that the waters, the land, the air, all of which we tried to be guardians of have been violated. It is almost too late now. When you go back, the urgency of what we have shared today must be made known.

Just as we have shared our ideas with you here through our minds, you will do so with others when you return to your world. Those you return to will not realize what is happening. They will become Messengers and will also spread this message. In this way, it may be possible to save the earth, the forests, the waters, the winds..it may not be too late. It is no accident that you came here today. It is your time. We have waited for you to find us.'

She had so many questions and many of the answers were given to her. Some she would come to know the answers to on her own.

For a time, they sat together and shared that space. Hearing each other's thoughts. After a time, the one who seemed to be the leader, spoke, only these few words..

'Close your eyes, and go now, go back and begin.'

After a few seconds, she opened her eyes again and found she was back at the edge of the forest where she was about to enter.

Turning back to her car, she thought, ‘I will find out what is waiting for me in there another day. Time enough for that.’

She took one last glance at the forest and walked back to her car. Adjusting her mirror something caught her eye for an instant.

'Must have been a shadow,' she thought, as she slowly pulled onto the roadway.

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