Forest Fantsy

While the wonderful wizarding world of Harry Potter is indeed a magical place, my favorite fantasy world is one that I cannot remember the source of. At this point, I’m not sure if it was a dream or a book, as it has lived in my mind since I was a young child, and while I’m far past the socially acceptable age of scouring children’s books to find it without caring for a young child, I cannot forget it.

It is a world of trees larger around than stadiums; and taller than skyscrapers. Somewhat similar to houses built into hills, homes were in the hollowed out inner center of each tree. The trees were clustered together, but without overwhelming amounts of undergrowth like that of most forests – the areas cleared by the community that lived there. Everything is shaded but not dark due to the leaf patterns scattered along long, thick branches. Leaves are large enough to serve as blankets or pillows but not sturdy enough to be boats.

A large but calmly flowing river streams close-by, and allows collection of water into barrels. The community itself is small enough for everyone to know each other, and large enough for each person to have specific tasks or specialties for the society. Everyone is vegetarian and land animals were not easily found there. Most of the diet consisted of vegetables and fruits, but particularly berries and squashes.

More than one family lived in a single tree, at different levels – and tree branches served as bridges from one tree to the next. Getting up or down required skilled climbing, and homes could the closed such that it didn’t look like humans lived there. The entire community was completely hidden to the outside world – no trails, no technology.

Most often, medicine and food was washed, and boiled. Bandages were plant fibers, and it was a peaceful community – full of comradery, singing, laughing, and love. Birds and butterflies flew in the air, landing sometimes on brightly colored flowers. Insects coexisted peacefully with humans, neither biting nor being an invading nuisance.

Each home was cozy – a bed, covered in large leaves of varying colors and a small basin for water in front of a vanity. Warm air circulated inside the cool interior of the trees, so that it stayed habitable during both cold and warm seasons.

On the rare occasion that a person did make a long journey into a town for supplies not easily found or made there, everyone wondered who is this fair skinned person, and where did they come from? Questions were never answered, only offering smiles and nods as thanks for supplies. Usually, trades of fruits occurred to generate just the right amount of money for transactions.

Creating new homes in the trees without damaging them was perhaps the largest challenge, as the trees stayed alive with the homes inside. It did not occur often, only when a family had a child and they could not move into an aging parents’ old home after being transitioned into city life and losing touch with them. While disheartening to say goodbye to an elder, it was necessary to maintain the homeostasis of the community.

Elders tried to promote recycling and respect for the environment in the city, without sharing the secret of their inner tree homes. Sometimes their efforts were in vain, but the best impact was to prevent helicopter visits and development of the vast forest area in which the tree community was hidden. The culture shock of the change was challenging, but necessary to protect future generations’ coexistence to and connection with the forest.