Walking Through the Forest

Mark Harris was an inquisitive guy, always wanting to explore the world around him. This was very quickly brought to an end when his elderly father, Harry, became ill. Now, Mark's time was spent taking care of an ailing Harry, staying close by should the worse come to fruition.

Harry hadn't been around an awful lot when Mark was younger, having to spend a lot of time traveling around the world for work. This was something that Harry hadn't enjoyed doing, wanting nothing more than to spend time with his family, but without the money he earned, the family wouldn't have been able to live the life they were so used to.

It was the absence of Harry during his younger years that Mark felt compelled to keep a close eye on his dad. He used this extra time together to ask him all the questions he'd longed to know the answers to.

"Where was your favourite place you visited for work?" Mark asked one day. He sat in the comfortable armchair next to Harry's bed, with a cup of tea in hand, wanting to hear more about the work his dad had kept secret for so long.

Harry looked up from his own cup of tea and gazing off into nothingness as he recalled all the memories from his past life. Then he smiled, "lets not talk about work", he said, "why don't I tell you about the most beautiful place I have ever visited". He sat himself up into a more comfortable position and sighed, "it was in the town where I grew up...

Rugby was the name of the town that Harry grew up in, a small yet bustling town not far from London. During Harry's younger years he had quickly grown bored with the town, with parks and community centres closed long ago, leaving nothing to keep someone like Harry entertained. What the town did have, was a large forest located conveniently across the road from Harry's childhood home. He spent many years wandering through the trees, traipsing through the muddy paths, and wading through the babbling brook. It was somewhere in the middle of the dense forest that he'd come across a huge tree, with thick branches reaching out in all directions. A keen adventurer, Harry would climb each branch, seeing how high he could go or simply sitting and listening to the breeze through the leaves.

One night he had argued with his parents, an argument long gone from Harry's memory, yet it had been enough to cause him to flee from the house on that cool summer night. It was coming to midnight and the forest was much darker than Harry was used to, but he didn't care, he just needed to get away from all the yelling and crying. He made his way to that large tree and climbed as high as he could, using his torch to guide the way. He sat atop a thick branch and cried, letting his anger and frustration out in the silent forest.

As he wiped away the last of his tears he finally calmed down, leaning back against the rough bark. He sat breathing silently, listening once again to the breeze through the trees. It was then that he heard a hoot from directly above him. Then another somewhere to his left. Soon he was sat listening to the song of a number of barn owls, talking amongst themselves. He smiled, the moonlight just peeking through the trees as he finally saw the shadow of one owl flying by.

Harry finished his story and smiled, remembering that time in the forest, "it was such a magical night, my parents, young grandparents, were of cause angry that I'd ran off so late. But I will always remember those owls". Harry then yawned, slumping back against his pillow and drifting off to sleep.

It had been a few months since Harry had passed peacefully in his sleep. Mark had been affected more than he thought he would've, spending a lot of time indoors inconsolable. He would spend hours sat next to the empty bed his dad had previously slept in, wanting nothing more than to hear another tale from the past.

One day that painful summer, Mark thought back to the story of Harry and the owls in the forest. At the time Mark had watched his father's face beam with happiness at the memory. Wanting nothing more than to be closer to his dad, Mark decided to venture out for the first time, going back to Rugby to discover the place that had brought Harry such a wonderful memory.

Mark traipsed through the woods, twigs snapping under his boots as he retraced his dad's old path. He wasn't sure where he was going but found solace in the peaceful silence that the forest offered. It was then that he came across what looked like the large tree his dad had described.

Stood at the base of the mighty tree, Mark thought of Harry in that moment, envisioning his dad as a young boy climbing the tree. Mark followed suit and climbed atop one of the closer branches. He sat and closed his eyes, listening to the breeze through the leaves as Harry once had. It was then that he heard a distant hoot of an owl.