The Rarely Traveled Forest

She was standing there in the hot summer sun, her white dress flowing in the light breeze that blew by. She had her long, straight black hair down that day. She knew it wasn’t “respectable” to have her hair down like this but she felt as though that emerald green ribbon tied more than just her hair back. 

She stuck out in the vast yard, basket in hand and her gaze fixed on the open field in front of her. More than anything she wanted to go out into the world and never come back but she knew that wasn't an option for her. It would never be an option for her. 

“Evie” she heard her mother quietly call from the porch. Evie turned and looked into her mother's eyes, ready for what she had to tell her daughter. 

“I’m not feeling well today. Can you pick berries by yourself? Just this once?” Evie’s mother was expecting a child almost any day now and Evie knew she was expected to pick up more chores than she had previously been doing. 

She made her way to the porch where her mother was standing. Evie kissed her mother’s cheek before saying, “yes mama.” 

Evie turned to walk away and head out for the day but did not get far before she heard her mother call her name again. 

“Come here, child.” She heard her mother say with a sigh. 

Reluctantly, Evie made her way back to the porch where her mother was standing, already knowing exactly why her mother called her back. She was met with her mother’s outstretched hand giving her a ribbon. 

“Ma-” Evie started before she was cut off.

“No, Evelyn. Hair up, now. I’ll cut it when I’m feeling better.” The use of her full name let Evie know the topic was not up for discussion. 

“Yes, Mama,” she quietly spoke, taking the ribbon and tying her hair back. 

When Evie had finally made it to the blackberry fields she immediately started putting them in her basket. She wasn’t paying as close attention as she normally would with her mother but she was trying to take in the various sights around her, something her mother never let her do. 

“Wandering eyes belong to wandering girls.” Her mother always said to her. 

While Evie loved her mother more than anything, sometimes she did wish she had more freedom to just be who she wanted to be. But, of course, Evie’s image reflected back onto her parents so she knew she had to follow their rules. 

Evie had been so lost in thought that she didn’t realize she had reached the end of the blackberry patch. She looked down at her basket to see it was only half full. With a sigh, she turned to walk the length of the patch again. Only this time paying attention and filling the basket up. However, as she went to turn around something caught her eye.

Growing at the edge of the woods was a bright yellow flower, one she had never seen before. It was just about to bloom and Evie knew that if she came back in another day or two, she would get to see it in all of its beauty. 

She reached her hand down to let her fingers linger above the closed petals but when she did so, the flower opened up. Curious, Evie looked around to see if she could find another flower like this one. Sure enough, a little farther into the woods, there was another one just about to bloom. 

Evie set the basket on the ground and tied her ribbon to it, letting her hair down. A smile found its way onto Evie’s lips as she slipped out of her shoes and left them next to the basket. 

“Just a few minutes,” Evie thought to herself. “A few minutes to be free and then I’ll get back to being Evie.” 

Barefoot and grinning, the girl walked back up to the flower that had not yet bloomed. Again, she reached her hand towards it and again, it opened up for her. She knelt down on the ground, not even caring if she dirtied her clean, white dress. 

Extending her face towards the flower, she took a deep inhale, hoping to become intoxicated in such a fresh, sweet smell. Now that the flowers had caught her attention she stood again, looking for more. She spotted another one, even deeper into the forest this time. 

For one fraction of a second, she did consider leaving it alone and going back to her basket. But she was not Evie in that moment, she was just a girl...going after a flower. No rules. No worries. 

With a giggle in her voice she ran up to the flower, following the exact same routine as before. And at the next flower, and the next, and the next, and even the next.

What Evie didn’t realize was that if she glanced back, her basket would've been out of sight. In fact, the entire blackberry patch...would've been out of sight. But no, this carefree girl did not glance back. She had no idea how deep into the woods she had gone. 

It was when she lost the flowers that she looked up and realized what she’d done. Mentally reprimanding herself for it, she decided it was time to leave. 

Only problem with that? No one was there to tell her to leave. No one was there listing off her requirements to “be a lady.” Her hair was down, her feet were bare. The adventure was calling out to her and she did more than listen. She got lost in it. 

She took off in a run, deeper into the woods. Laughing and letting herself let go. She stopped right when she started to be out of breath and looked around, still unable to keep the smile off of her face. It was when she stopped moving, that she let herself just...listen. Listen to what the earth had to offer her. 

The reborn girl had decided on her next adventure when she heard the roaring water not too far away. Slowly making her way towards the noise, she noticed the ground had started to get wetter but she didn’t mind. The moss mixed with just a little bit of mud squished between her toes and it made her giggle at how it tickled. 

Before long, the gushing of the water was the only thing she heard and when she looked up...It was the first time she questioned what she was doing. Right before her eyes was a waterfall unlike anything she had seen before. It was violently gushing, yes, but more than that the water was jet black. 

She backed away from the water, now wanting the comfort of her hair ribbon...her shoes...her basket. Wanting the comfort of being “Evie.” 

She gulped and tried to keep her breaths steady. Tears sprung to her eyes and she kept staring at the water. Her feet were moving, why couldn't her eyes? Before she realized what was happening, her feet tripped over a log and she was laying in that muck from before, now looking up at the sky. 

After taking a quick second to organize her thoughts she sat up and got back on her feet. She looked around. Where was she? Where was the waterfall? She was still in the woods, she knew that much but other than that it was unknown territory to her. 

She shook the thought from her head and turned to get out of there. She broke out into a run, needing to leave those dreaded woods. She stopped when she realized how truly lost she had gotten. Tears were now pouring out of her eyes and she sunk to the ground, clinging onto her knees. 

The thought of her mother popped into her head. She thought of how mad she would be that she had ruined her dress but even then the anger she imagined on her mother's face was worth having her mother back. She closed her eyes and let her tears dry, taking deep breaths as she composed herself. When she opened her eyes again, though, she could see nothing. 

She was surrounded by pure darkness. 

She placed her hands on the ground next to her, using that to help her stand up. Getting up was no help, though. She couldn’t see anything. Had no direction to try walking in. 

A sob escaped her throat, sounding mangled and choked. She didn’t even know when she started to cry again. 

“Mama” she whispered over and over again as she stumbled around, barely moving. 

Along with the darkness, she realized it was also dead silent. “Mama please.” She yelled out to no one. 

The now broken girl fell to her knees and unleashed her nastiest, loudest wails. 

Then, she swore she felt a hand on her shoulder. “Mama...I'm sorry.” she whispered. 

Like a violent storm, she heard everything all at once. Her ears rang and her head began to pound like a big bass drum. She went to place her hands over her ears but stopped when one noise broke through. 

One faint voice calling her name.