Forgotten Forest of the Innocent
by Violet Yates
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2011 Violet Yates
Cover Photo by Sandra Sims/Dreamstime.com
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Forgotten Forest of the Innocent
It has been said that there is a place, deep in a forgotten forest, which is magical and pure. Whether it actually exists only in the imagination of some, or is real, I do not know. What I do know is that it is untouched by much of what the rest of the world has experienced. If ever should I find it, I should like to live there, and become a hermit.
In this forest one fateful day, a sound shrilled, loud and foreign. It shrieked persistently and at regular intervals. The sound struck the roof of the green canopy, bouncing off the walls of the wood and rebounding, calling attention to all within earshot. Ever sensitive to the tiniest sound, the creatures of the forest began traveling in the direction it was coming from, eager to see, yet fearful to know. Deer bounded about in a zigzag fashion, their dainty heads cocked, listening, and then raced to meet the ringing noise. Was it a strange animal? But if so, what sort of animal could possibly make that god-awful sound? Lazy alligators, surrendering the hunt for the time being, made their way to the middle of the forest. Perhaps a new type of meal awaited them?
The sound pealed as if asking a question requiring an in depth response. Tiny birds, picking up on the earnest appeal, flew gracefully above the ceiling of trees and landed. Crows heard the ringing cry as well, yet assumed that it was not dead. Disinterested, they flew right on by. A parrot, beautiful in its exotic floral colors, flew down and began a conversation with the object.
“Caww… what do you want? What do you want? Caww, caww!”
The object, resembling nothing they had ever seen before in the deep, isolated forest, rang and rang, “Answer me, answer me!”
The tiny birds swooped down, eager to become part of the action. “How, how?” A great army of frogs, leaping to and fro from one tree log to another, jumping, jumping, croaked, “Pick it up, pick it up!”
Several mystical fairies, born in a magical environment unused to the noise assaulting their ears, flew down on their light, gossamer wings and hovered above the object, whispering amongst themselves, “What is it, what is it?”
The alligators, their great webbed feet slumping towards the ringing object, opened their massive jaws, snapping them hungrily. Suddenly, a voice boomed out, loud and clear. “Silence!”
It was the Queen of the Forest, in her royal garments of red and blue, traveling with an entourage of Knights and Maidens. She had come to settle the matter that was wreaking such chaos in the once peaceful forest. Her Knights, ever cautious but ready to surrender life and limb for their beloved Queen, circled the offending object, swords drawn and ready to strike.
The object was approximately half a foot long, solid and round. Its color was a sort of putrid orange, similar to the mushrooms that bloomed from the rotten tree limbs of the Great One. Its odd shape looked as if it could break if touched. There was a coil attached to it, similar to that of a snake or a tail. No one in that forest could even begin to fathom what it was, or to understand its purpose.
The Queen spoke again, “What or who are you, and what are your plans with my people?”
Still, the object stubbornly rang. There was not going to be any response other than that, yet the crowd did not come to this conclusion, and persisted.
Eager to show their loyalty, the frogs bounded towards the object, and began to jump atop of it, croaking loudly in time to the ringing. Borrowing bravery from their fellow forest dwellers, the birds flew down and perched on the tree limbs closest to the object, thus encouraging the Queen to continue her interrogation.
“I repeat, who are you, and what do you want? Are you so insolent that you will not answer me, the Queen for as far as the eyes can see?”
Wondering if the object would ever respond, the Queen poked at it with her finger. Nothing happened, no burning sensation, no retaliation ensued. Encouraged, she picked the object up from the grass. It continued to ring. Having it within her grasp, she felt powerful.
“So, are you going to tell me now?”
One of her Knights approached her, and whispered in her royal ear, “Your Majesty, perhaps it is some sort of spirit, or possessed soul. Maybe you would rather give it to the fairies, who know what to do with such things.”
“Hmm, perhaps. Is Gaya here? She would know.”
Gaya came with a light foot, but a heavy heart. This was not a job she would relish, if she had a choice. Yet obey she must, or suffer the Queen’s punishment. She reluctantly held out her arms to the Queen, accepted the object, and shot into the air with a great flourish of wings. High above the clouds, one could see her fly off towards the castle peaks far ahead.
Peering, chattering and croaking for several moments more, the animals, fairies, the Queen and her entourage then went their separate ways, all speaking amongst themselves about the eerie object whose mystery was yet to be solved.
In the castle’s topmost tower, the fairy known as Gaya was sitting silently upon a chair, studying the object on the table in front of her with intense concentration.
“It does not breathe, yet it talks in its own odd way. It does not appear to have teeth, so how can it eat? And thus, how can it be alive? It is not a plant, for a plant would need to be rooted to the earth for sustenance. Aha! I have got it! I will call upon Mother Earth, and request her assistance!”
Closing her eyes, she began to hum a melody, deep and piercing, similar to the ringing the object still put forth every few seconds. In a few short moments, there came a great cloud of dust, and a woman appeared. Or what appeared to be a woman. She had hair the color of golden wheat, and great green piercing eyes. Robust and grandly appareled, she had a commanding air about her. Other than the Queen, she was the most respected woman of the land.
“Gaya, how are you, my dear child? What summons me from my slumber this fine day? Is there something I can assist you with?” Concern wrinkled Mother’s brow, lending grandiosity to her appearance.
“It is this, Madam! The Queen has asked me to discover what it is and what it wants from our fair kingdom. Yet I can discover nothing from it, and fear punishment if I do not complete the task assigned to me. Can you help me? Are you familiar with it?”
Glancing towards the object in question, Mother shrieked in fear and terror.
“What is that… thing doing here, in this sacred place? Do you not know what it is? It is the bane of the civilized world! It symbolizes everything that is wrong with the earth. This is the only spot left in the world it hasn’t touched. No measure of magic can fix the amount of destruction it causes.”
“But what is it, Mother?” Gaya asked inquisitively. She was thinking, ‘what could possibly strike such terror in the heart of one so brave and superior?’
“Technology, my dear Gaya.” Caressing Gaya’s face, she wished that Gaya’s innocence could be spared. Alas, it could not. For the Kingdom’s sake, she must be made aware of this danger.
“But Mother, what shall we do with this … Technology?”
“Burn it…burn it in the hottest fire you can make. And if you should come across anything similar to this, do the same for that. You must not let Technology enter this realm. It would destroy your way of life. Here, let me show you the parts of the world that were once similar to ours.” She took out her mystical orb, and waved a hand over it. In it, a city appeared, like no other Gaya had ever set her eyes on. There were very tall stone castles. There was not an inch of greenery. Only stone paths, and there were millions of people all cramped into one tiny space. There were no animals, no fairies, and certainly no magic.
Gaya was horrified, and immediately picked up the Technology and threw it right into the fire. She cast a spell on it to make it burn hot, and turned once more to Mother. Laying her hand on Mother’s shoulder, she said, “Thank you Mother, for you have truly saved us.”
“Do not thank me. Be vigilant! Never let your guard down. That is what will save you, and your people. Remember that…” With a poof of air, she was gone.
And all was back to normal, in the Forgotten Forest. For a time.
About the Author
Violet Yates and all of her books live in a condo on the beach in Kona, Hawaii. A graduate of SUNY Albany, New York, she holds a Master of Science in Higher Education Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in English. Her love for the written word was sparked by her love of reading. Forgotten Forest of the Innocent was a story she wrote about ten years ago, while taking a break from her many English assignments as an undergraduate student. It was a lot of fun, and her wish is that others will enjoy reading it as much as she enjoyed writing it. Violet's dream is to become a well-known fiction writer.
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