Her Gods

The woods waited for her, every day she passed the ancient sickly trunks, she felt the wind still with their bated breath. 

She used to be terrified. She could visualize the stark branches bending down to strangulate her, and her body getting embedded in the gnarled shapes of the trunks. She would neither be dead nor alive after that – just waiting for someone else to pass that way. There were plenty of stories circulating about people who had disappeared in the forest, and she was sure they were imprisoned in the trunks.

She surprised herself every day by returning home alive. Next morning, she crossed the forest again – to get to the river. Her Gods lived on an island, and she was building a boat to reach there. The work was almost done, and she would then sail away, never to return.

On the last day, she strode through the forest with great pride, dressed in her best finery. It was to be her last day on this side. She was the chosen one, as a village elder had told her.

She stopped in her tracks with a deep voice.

“Daughter, carry this message to the younger ones on the other side. Ask them to reconnect with roots. They need our wisdom, as much as we need their vigour and freshness.”

“Tell who?” She was scared, but managed to conceal her fear.

“The lush green trees that you will meet there…. We are their ancestors. You are indeed the chosen one. We chose you to carry this message across, when the winds stopped blowing this way, and we drooped. It gave us a lot of joy to see that spring in your step – you are the harbinger of many good things to come.”

“Me?”

She had been terrified of those who blessed her. There are beautiful souls trapped in the trunks, not demons. The people who disappeared probably crossed over to the other side, never to return.

She vowed to return – to meet her gods – in this forest.

First Line Friday: September 27th, 2019