The Enchanted Forest

She opened her eyes. Slowly, she blinked three times and stared at the sky. It was a deep blue sprinkled with soft, white clouds.

She turned her head to the side and saw an endless field of tall green grass. Turning her head to the other side she saw a beautiful spread of springtime flowers, as if they were colored by the drips of a painter’s palette. Suddenly, she pushed herself up onto her arms, “where am I?” she whispered.

In front of her the fields of grass and flowers met. There in the middle the field was basked in soft, golden sunlight. Looking at it she felt calm and safe. But she noticed she was alone. “THOMAS?!” she shouted out loud. All that came back was silence.

“That’s strange,” she thought. “Why is it so quiet?” she wondered to herself. She stood up and brushed her skirt down. She wanted to run into the field of flowers and pick some for her hair, for her mom, and to hold in her hands but she stopped. Turning around, she looked behind her.

It was a forest. Giant trees stood tall like guards protecting a fragile secret inside. Their tops scraped the bottoms of the sky, standing still among the scattered clouds. They were magnificent and menacing. The sun shone on their red wood, showing the cracks, twists and spirals, betraying their age. She glanced left and right but could not see where the forest ended, she could only see where it began.

Even though she was a little frightened, she felt that something urged her to move forward, to enter the forest. A slight breeze blew through her hair and she almost believed she heard a whisper on the wind, “Isabel, come inside.” “Is that you, Thomas?” she whispered back, slowly walking forward.

She came to the wall of trees and stopped. Reaching out, she traced the lines of the tree in front of her with her fingers. She felt so small standing there among these giants. Then, she was not sure she believed her eyes, two trees in front of her moved ever so slowly, as if they were parting for her to enter. She could hear the earth moan beneath their weight and the roots stretch as the trees inched apart.

Isabel took a deep breath and walked in.