The Forest

The earth left me with nothing to embrace except the emptiness that filled the wooded area where I often walked. The Forest, as I called it, was not an established park or main attraction in my neighborhood. I don’t think anyone knew of its existence, and if someone did, that person never gave any acknowledgement of its presence. The only reason I discovered The Forest was because of its close proximity to my home. Perhaps it was only a mass of trees in a dead space, but I gave it a name to restore some of its dignity and to show my respect for all that it had done for me.

The Forest’s entrance had barely any trees, but the few that were there looked large and strong enough to hold my weight if I were to choose one to climb. Sometimes, before venturing any further into the area, I would pick a spot where no tree grew. I would stand there and concentrate, hoping that my presence would somehow persuade the ground into thrusting up new plants from beneath the grass to create a connected mass of foliage. I did notice the sprouting of a couple of tiny trees a few weeks ago, and I was happy to think that I participated in some part of their creation.

If I were asked to choose my favorite part of The Forest, I would have said that it was the area in the back by the long chain-link fence. No other part of The Forest could replicate the feeling of safety that overwhelmed me when I was hiding in the back among the leaves, bark, and fallen branches. I would crawl across dirt and sit not cross-legged, but with more pressure placed on my left thigh as I leaned sideways. There on the ground, I would surround myself with a barrier of autumnal leaves, and it felt effortless to glide my fingers through the holes in the fence and grab onto nothing but its thin interwoven material. I often wondered if the woods beyond the fence felt envious of The Forest. Or perhaps it felt a sense of endless loneliness which could only be relieved by becoming a part of the space where I sat. It would be difficult, however, for those trees to walk through The Forest’s entrance and experience the feeling of safety that its atmosphere always provided. Only the leaves had a chance of making it into The Forest with the help of a strong wind or just pure luck from an inner determination to end their ongoing isolation.

Maybe that is why I enclosed myself in leaves—to show them that I too was lonely. I sought to reward them with a feeling of togetherness while praying that the pressure from our united energy would cause the fence to collapse, transforming The Forest into a larger haven. There, outsiders could lose themselves amongst the plant life and find solace in their bewilderment of being unable to find a way out.