The Land of the Gentle Forest

Long ago in another realm, a lively young girl named Simone lived with her mother, Elena. Hidden deep in the forest, at the edge of a small field and built into the hillside, was the stone house in which they lived. The house faced the small field, dozens of different types of wildflowers grew among the long, lush green grass; it was like a playground for Simone. Trees towered over their house, edging the small field like a gigantic picket fence.

Simone was a mischievous girl; she was always asking her mother questions. Many times, she fired them so quickly that by the time she stopped, Elena had forgotten what the first question had been. Sometimes, Simone was impatient and wouldn’t wait for her mother to answer. She would ask a dizzying number of questions then, tell her mother that she was going to ask her animal friends and leave. Elena would watch with a smile on her face as Simone bounded out the door, chestnut hair bouncing with her movements.

Elena often wondered if Simone’s friends were asked as many questions as she was. Elena knew that from an early age something was not only different about Simone, but also there was something very special about her too. It wasn’t until recently that Elena had discovered, by accident, what that difference was.

Elena heard murmuring coming from Simone’s room and, since no one else was in the house, she was curious as to what Simone was doing or to whom she was talking. Elena quietly snuck up to her daughter’s door, not a terribly difficult feat on a floor made from stone, and peaked around the corner. There, sitting on the bed with Simone, was a family of field mice. She watched as Simone picked them up, one at a time, and spoke to them.

Elena was astounded, they were having a real conversation. Of course, she was only able to understand what Simone was saying but still, she knew that from the way Simone was talking, that the field mice were answering her. And somehow, Simone understood what they were saying to her.

Later, in the evening as they were sitting down to dinner, Elena said “I saw you talking with some field mice earlier this afternoon. Is that where the missing bits of cheese have gone?”

Stunned and red-faced, for she thought that no one else knew that she talked to animals, Simone said “I wasn’t talking to any field mice, Mama.”

“Simone” Elena said, “what have I told you before about lying to me?”

Simone sighed, the deep, defeated sigh of a young child knowing that they have been caught, and said “You’ve told me that if I lie, you will know. You will always find out, so it’s best not to do it in the first place.”

“Exactly” Elena responded. “How long have you been giving food to the field mice?”

“Awhile” Simone responded.

“Have you been feeding any other animals?”

“No Mama, all of the other animals have plenty of food. Someone stepped on the place where Mr. and Mrs. Mouse kept their food and they had to feed their children. Did I do the wrong thing, Mama?” Simone asked in child-like innocence.

“No Simone” Elena replied, laughing. “No, dear daughter, you did not do the wrong thing by giving them food. I would have preferred to have known though, then I would have made extra cheese.”

“I’m sorry Mama, next time I will tell you. I promise.”

“Thank you. Now, I’m almost afraid to ask this, but are there other animals that you talk to?”

“Oh yes Mama!” Simone exclaimed. “I talk to all of the woodland creatures. Mr. and Mrs. Bunny are my favorites though; they always have so many children for me to talk to and play with! Almost every time I visit them, they have more children for me to play with. Mr. Owl doesn’t talk to me too much though. Mr. and Mrs. Deer let me walk around with them and their daughter; I think her name is Fawn. Sometimes, we follow the trail over to the lake and I watch Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. They are always busy working on their house.”

“I see. What do you and your friends talk about? If you don’t mind my asking.”

“We talk about everything, Mama. My friends take me to all of the fun places, but don’t worry, we stay away from the scary and dangerous places.”

“Have you learned anything from your friends?”

“Yes Mama. I’ve learned a lot about sharing, especially from Mr. and Mrs. Bunny. They are always telling their babies to share with their brothers and sisters. I have also learned about something called moderation. I don’t know exactly what that is, but Mr. and Mrs. Bunny talk to their children about it a lot!”

One day, months later, Simone went outside to see which of her animal friends were around to play. As she was walking down the path that led from the house to the field, imagining another game of Hide and Seek with the Fox family, Mr. Owl swooped in, landing on a large boulder at the end of the path.

“Come quick, young one! Follow me” he said.

“Where are we going?” Simone asked.

But for once, she was too late in asking her question. Mr. Owl had already taken off from his temporary perch and was circling at the far end of the field. Simone bounded across the field, crashing through the long grass and fronds that made up most of the field.

“Hurry” Mr. Owl squawked as Simone neared. “There isn’t a moment to lose.”

 Off they went again, running and soaring, twisting and weaving through the tall trees, stoic sentinels providing shelter and protection to the animals that called the forest home. As Simone ran along the trail following the now low-flying Mr. Owl, she felt she knew where they were headed, but did not know why. They were on the trail that eventually ended at the lake.

Her feet pounded down the trail, arms flailing, whipping branches out of the way as she ran, Simone came bursting out of the brush surrounding the lake onto the pebble beach. Gasping for breath, she scanned in every direction as quickly as she could, her gaze not settling in any one direction for longer than necessary.

“Mr. Owl” she cried, “what is going on? Why did we come here so quickly? No one is here.”

Sitting behind her, on a fallen tree limb that was even with Simone’s head, he said “Breathe easy, young one. This is why we came here so quickly.”

Flicking his wings to his left and right, all of Simone’s woodland creature friends came out from the underbrush. Never before had Simone had all of her friends together at one time. She watched in awe as the Bunny, Deer, and Fox families made their way onto the pebble beach. There was a noise from the lake behind her and when Simone turned around to find the source, she saw the Beaver family waddling their way out of the lake to join the party.

When she turned back around, facing the forest again, Fawn came forward, carrying the family of field mice on her back.

“Simone, you have brought each and every one of us so much joy” Mrs. Mouse began, “that we all got together and decided that this would be a good way for us to say thank you. We all thank you for the love, caring, tenderness, concern, respect and attention that you have shown us. If it were not for you, why, my family and I might have starved after our food storage was destroyed.”

“Everyone of us can share a similar story of how you have helped us. It might not have been with food, like it was for the Mouse family, but sometimes there are things and qualities that are more important than food” Mr. Deer said.

“We have a special gift for you” Mrs. Beaver said. With the help of the Fox family, Mr. Beaver moved a few branches out of the way, revealing a raft. “We made this for you” he said. “Now, whenever you come to the lake, we can push you around the lake. You can even come out to our home, there in the center of the lake.”

“I don’t know what to say” Simone said, tears streaming down her face. “Thank you. I love you all so much!”

Simone spent the rest of the day playing with all of her friends on the beach and in the lake. As the sun began to set, Simone was spent; she had used all of her energy playing with her woodland friends. With help from all, she was draped on the back of Mr. Deer and a slow procession taking her home began.