The Hibernation

The Hibernation

It was deep in the forest an area that few if any had ever entered. The trees were tall, majestic, the foliage was thick, apparently impenetrable.  The snow that the sun could fire at had melted, but the white crystals that managed to fall out of the zone remained like a lump of grey cauliflower.

Amid all of the changing face of nature was a hut almost totally unseen. In fact, if someone was foolhardy enough to try and break through the thick foliage of this particular area, they would probably miss it.

The structure was clearly not in the open.

A crow sat in the tree and waited and when a certain noise spooked it, the bird flew off. It took a few moments, but the figure emerged from the hut. He looked like Sasquatch, with the long beard and the hair that sprouted everywhere. However, it wasn’t Bigfoot, it was simply a man.

Once, he had stretched and scratched, the man looked around and didn’t see anything.  

“Where’s that damn crow?”

To many observers this would had been a very strange event. Yet, to the man that had emerged from the crude hut, it was a spring ritual.  

His name was Robert Vachon, at one time a business executive who was very high in the company hierarchy.  One day, he was traveling to a conference through a winding road in the woods when a girl appeared out of nowhere.

It was a life of meetings, deadlines, more meetings, long hours and busy weekends. Sometimes, when he would wake up in the morning and was in the bathroom, the man would look directly into the mirror.

“My life is that of a corporate robot. I feel that I am in deep stupor, a hibernation.”

But, he would get ready for work because a lot of people were counting on him. On this fine spring day, instead of doing something fun and nature-related, he was working.

She was young, perhaps just past her teen years. The girl was beautiful with flowers in her hair and an earthly essence and innocence.  Robert didn’t have a chance and hit the girl. His heart went into his throat.

Slowly, he stepped out of the company car and closed his eyes. Then, he walked over dreading the moment when the blood and gruesome sight would haunt the man forever.

She was hurt, but she wasn’t dead. There was a slight cut on her forehead and she had passed out.

He knelt down and felt for a pulse. Then he sighed wondering what to do next. Slowly, she opened her eyes and smiled up at him.

“Hello, how are you?”

“I am good.”

“What is that thing over there?”  She pointed to the car.

He looked at her strangely and smiled.

“It’s a car.”

“A car?”

“Yes, a car.  Have you never seen one of them before?”

“No, sir I haven’t ever seen one of them.”

“Okay.”

“My name is Oak.”

He smiled and was a little taken aback.  

“That is an interesting name.”

“My name is Robert Vachon.”

“I am pleased to meet you Mr. Robert Vachon.”

“Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you as well. Do you think you are able to stand up?”

“Yes, I am able to walk.  I am much stronger than I look.”

Suddenly, there was a huge, loud growl and Robert stated to back off.

Good the Bear didn’t seem too impressed that Robert was standing next to his ‘girl.’

“He is rather harmless.”

“He doesn’t look harmless.”

“Trust me he is.  Good, please go away everything is okay.”

The bear standing on his back legs looked at his girl and then gently went to four paws.  He walked away and blended into the forest.

“I am glad that you are okay, but I have to go now.”

“Okay. It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“I am sorry I hit you.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

He got in his car and left, but the meeting was entrenched in his mind.

It was a week later when he returned and started to walk into the woods. There was no sign of Oak or Good.  

“Did I really meet them or was it a dream?”

Just then, he heard something behind him and there was another wood nymph. She was as beautiful as Oak and looked a lot like her, but it was a different girl. She smiled at him and seemed a little embarrassed.

“Hello, my name is Robert and I was wondering if you knew a girl named Oak?”

“You are Robert?”  She giggled.

“Yes, I am.  Is there something wrong?”

“No, my sister talked about you a lot. In fact, she hasn’t been able to stop talking about you.”

The girl made a strange noise and a few minutes later, Oak appeared and she was so happy to see him.

“Hello, Robert, how are you?”

“I am good, Oak.”

“I see you have met my sister, Tulip.”

“Yes, I have and that is a very interesting name.”

“Yes, our father gave us some very interesting names.”

“I like those names.”

“Robert has a car.”

“A car is a very interesting thing.”

“Would you like to go for a ride in the car?”

The two sisters looked at each other and smiled.  

“That would be wonderful.”

So he took them for a ride and they ended up at the beach.  They sat in the sand and watched the tide rolled in, while the girls told Robert their life story. When they were done, the three were holding hands.

“I will follow you.”

Robert was deemed missing. His car was found abandoned near an empty parking lot.  It took some time, but he made friends with Good.

Oak and Tulip showed Robert how to fend for food, what berries to eat and to leave alone, how to avoid poison ivy and all kinds of wonderful things.  Soon, he was a man of the woods and the life of a business executive was behind him.

For the past dozen years, he lived the life of a wood man alone with his two girls. They loved each other and took care of one another.

The girls taught him how to hibernate in the winter after taking in some special berries that were found deep in the forest. They put one in a stupor and let the winter slip away.  

Robert loved waking up after the winter slumber to embrace the spring.  The smell of the forest, the flowers in bloom, the song of the birds and the freshness of the water hitting his skin for the first time in three months.

He and the two girls would have their own separate spring festival wearing flowers in their hair and dancing under the seasonal full moon.  They would eat fish and berries and other wonderful elements from Mother Nature’s bounty.

The hibernation had ended and it was now time to live life.