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The Whispering Woods

A Journey of Courage and Kindness

By Mukteshwar RanaPublished 24 days ago 5 min read
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The Whispering Woods
Photo by Sebastian Unrau on Unsplash

Once there was a pleasant village which was actually located in a valley with hills and a dense forest on its upper side and a young girl named Lily lived there. Lily was especially exceptional for curiosity and stamina in kindergartners. As for the main character, she attends her grandmother’s home referred to as Nana Rose being a traditional healer of the village. Lily slowly trailed behind Nana Rose, who had once warned her about the Whispering Woods: a place of looming trees and lurking danger.

”Lily, don’t go to the woods,” Nana Rose said one time. “They hold mysteries that are still better left untouched.”

However, Lily’s curiosity over-powered her fear and she still wanted to know more about it. That is usually where she spent her days staring at the forest not knowing what else was instore for her. One fine morning, Nana Rose had ventured out of the camp to hunt some herbs and that was when Lily planned to ravage the Whispering Woods.

Once she realized she is in the forest, she felt the trees were pursuing her…. It felt cooler, and she could even sense a breeze to an extent; like the hushed noise was monitoring her movement. Lily crept along the slim Terrace path; the climax of excitement accelerating her panting not only for glee.

A little of time the girl carried on wandering more and more in the woods and at some instant she found herself on the middle of a beautiful meadow containing small and shining lake. She could even see the stones which was on the bed of the river because of the clear water. One day she was bending to draw some water with the clay pot and was just touching her lips to the water when a voice.

"Welcome, Lily. "

She surveyed her surroundings in disbelief yet could not see any human being around. The woman was brave, so instead of screaming, she whispered, “Who is it?”

A small figure suddenly stepped out from behind the menacing foliage; she realized that its eyes were glowing a baleful red. It was a fairy, no taller than Lily’s hand; she had a pair of wings neatly tucked beside her and these wings glinted in the sun.

”They call me Elara, the fairy of the Whispering Woods,” said the fairy, sounding like the sweetest tune. “Oh! You’ve been observing me for a long time, Scott, but I’ve no bad bone in me, in fact, I have a tender heart and I am quite courageous.”

Lily’s EYES OPEN A RIVER when she was young. “A fairy! Nana Rose used to tell me stories about fairies but I had never believed them were real”.

Elara smiled. ‘Of course there are many things that are real in these woods and there are many things that you cannot see with your own eyes,’ And for some reason you are worthy of knowing this, Lily, that is why I have come to you”.

Lily had learned many things from the beauty that had been instilled in her and from the confusion she experienced. These questions are or can be translated as: Why me? What do you want?

Elara fluttered closer. ”The Whispering Woods are in peril. There is an invasive shadow that continues to grow, and with it the world stands at the edge of collapsing. And the player was asked to save the Whispering Woods.

Lily hesitated. A girl will ask, “But I am just a girl. I cannot do much”

“It is not something that will hurt you, you have a pure heart and a courageous spirit. More than you understand,” she said to Elara. “This is indeed where the special crystal the adorns the forest resides because it has the power to dispell the darkness, but the one person that can get it is the one with a pure heart.”

Neither glee nor anger was seen in her eyes, but resolution and Lily simply nodded in high determination to help. She led her through the forest deeming it safe enough for her to follow by merely illuminating the path with a faint light. They encountered many challenges: brambles, pitted stone, and brushes that appeared to breathe and stir. However, Lily bravely continued to push forward her fear being replaced with pure determination.

Last they found a cave partially hidden underground. Within a large round box, there is a beautiful crystal on its stand; it radiates soft cobalt blue light. Gracious, I said to myself as the shadows darken and the menace in the air increased when I saw Lily coming closer.

“You don’t have to go, Lily,” Elara said gently, “But if you do, you have to be brave.” “There is the thing, only you could take the crystal. ”

After a few moments to calm her nerves, Lily proceeded to step forward. The darkness wanted to drag her down and she struggled towards the light ooze coming from it which was promising her something. With her last effort, she caught the crystal on one end with the other ready to push it all the way. Without any hesitation, there lit up a bright light in the cave to extinguish the growing darkness.

At the same time, Lily received a strong, warm current and she knows that it was a mixture of Ben’s positive energy. This was a fact she was very sure of, though it was such a painful victory that cut her deep because she had learnt so well how far she could push herself. Thank you so much for your help, said Elara, flying next to the girl and her eyes glowing with happiness.

“I wouldn’t be here to tell the story if you stayed home, Lily. You’ve saved the Whispering Woods.”

As they headed back towards the village, the trees and all the other plants seemed to have a glow and the bushes spoke in happy tones. The darkness had lifted and she looked again the trees were swaying as if expressing thanks to her for her courage.

As soon as Lily came home, there was Nana Rose sitting on the couch and her face was full of concern. But when she saw the crystal in Lily’s hand and the burning light of the fairy beside her newfriend, her features relaxed.

Lily heard the woman’s excited voice: ‘You have done something spectacular, my dear,’ and indeed feeling the grandmother’s warm embrace, she could not remain indifferent. “Oh Diana, I am so proud of you.”

Therefore, the Whispering Woods was made the fairies’ residence and any person with a clean spirit was welcome to get into the Wooding. Lily was awarded to be one of the most polite characters of the story – the Guardian of the Woods; she was expected to guard the woods and its marvelous, to be its friend.

But the calls she received each time that she went to the forest were of happiness and she woke up to the realization that it was actually. That was the beauty and magic of the Whispering Woods, Lily had learnt that fear could be conquered and that kindness could rule the heart.

HumanitySustainabilityshort storyNature
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About the Creator

Mukteshwar Rana

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  • Dharrsheena Raja Segarran24 days ago

    Hey, just wanna let you know that this is more suitable to be posted in the Fiction community 😊

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