Forbidden Woods

Avery’s life had been filled with endless ‘do not do this’ and ‘do no do that’ ever since she could remember. Very few times could she ever recall her parents actually allowing her to do something. Most of the things she had been told she cannot do, start with the words ‘do not.’ However, there was one thing on the list that starts with ‘you are forbidden.’

It was that one thing that held her attention over all the others, that one word making all the difference.

You are forbidden from stepping foot inside those woods.

That one little sentence had been stuck in her mind since her mother had first uttered them when she was a lot smaller than she was now.

Do not run in the house.

Obviously, it was dangerous to run in the house, so many things she could trip over or break. She understood this one.

Do not touch a hot stove.

After her curiosity had her hand close enough to feel the heat permeating from the surface of the stove, she understood this one too.

Do not climb the trees.

She made the mistake of climbing a tree and learnt the lesson the hard way when she ultimately fell and broke her arm.

Why am I forbidden from going into the woods?

She had even asked that very question, only for an answer to never be provided. With the various things she was not allowed to do, they had either been obvious or the answer had revealed itself through other means. Most entailed danger to herself or to others and sometimes, when they related to noisy activities, it was so that she would not disturb her father working in his study.

However, without being allowed into the woods, she had no idea what awaited her in them. Would it be a lesson like the tree-climbing? Or would it be something excitingly new, yet dangerous?

At sixteen-years-old, the curiosity won out.

So, at the one time she knew both her parents would be out of the house for several hours, she took the opportunity. Not knowing what to expect, she prepared herself in the only way she knew how. Hair tied out of her face, workout wear for obvious reasons and sneakers, double-knotted so she would not need to worry about her laces. With a small backpack filled with snacks, a water bottle and various other supplies she might need for hiking in the forest, she was out the back door.

The forest backed onto their yard, starting just under a hundred metres from the end of the patio. It spanned for kilometres in either direction, and most trees in sight were pine. As she finally reached the edge of their yard, standing just inside the gate, she paused. Was she really going to do this? Was she finally going to do the one thing her parents had expressly forbidden her from doing? After taking one deep breath, the answer was yes.

So she carefully took that first step over the threshold, and when nothing happened, she started a steady pace into the woods.

For almost half an hour, she made her way through the trees, stepping over stray roots and moving around the occasional push. As time went on, she found herself becoming rather disappointed. All the things she had been told in her life not to do, they had always had a very good reason and yet, the one thing she was forbidden from doing, did not seem all that bad. Maybe she had not gone in far enough, or maybe whatever the reason had been was no longer an issue.

She was reaching the point where she would soon have to turn back around and return home so as to have enough time to pretend she had not once left the house upon her parents return. If she had to go without finding anything worthwhile, then it would all have been for nothing. Her curiosity would not have been sated and would only be worse as an answer to her aching question could not be found.

Why am I forbidden from going into the woods?

An hour into her trek through the forest and still nothing of note. Admittedly, there were many plants she had never seen before, pretty flowers that she would have brought home if only her parents were not going to be around to see them. Despite the numerous discoveries about the flora of the forest, the real problem for the hike had not been solved. Was there really nothing out here? Had her parents only said that because it seemed like something parents might tell their children?

She will admit to herself, that it would have been dangerous for her when was younger, but as for now, it seemed pretty safe. Maybe that is all it was, they had not wanted their little girl to get lost in the woods, so she had been forbidden from ever entering them.

With that thought in her mind, she finally decided to turn around and return home. She would have plenty of time to hide all evidence of her trip at this rate, which was most definitely a good thing. She tried to settle her curiosity as she walked, telling it that the reason was simply because she had been small at the time, there was nothing out here to find.

Or so she thought. She had finally stopped trying to find something, so of course, she finally found something. Well, more like something had found her.

She had been half way back the way she had come and when she came out from around a tree, waiting in a small clearing for her was a single wolf. A beautiful russet-coloured wolf that snarled the moment it caught sight of her. She had her answer, ringing through her head as if her mother was the one speaking it to her.

There are wolves in the woods.

So many things could happen in this moment, and yet, not one of them went through her head. All she had in her head was the resounding echo of her mother's words.

You are forbidden from stepping foot inside those woods.