The Forest of Wisdom

Gunther took a deep breath and started up the hill between the vast trunks of the forest. He was immediately surrounded by the ferns and small bushes of the undergrowth, surprised by the stark line between this and his beloved plains.

His people had lived on the plains longer than they could remember; it was peaceful, and there was plenty of room for farms and herds. The forest was a 2-day trek from the villages in all directions, encompassing the entire plain, rising on hills. Until now Gunther had never really thought about the forest, no one had. There was the odd cautionary tale, members of the community that had gone mad and run into the woods never to be seen again. They were never mentioned much, people just understood the forest was a dangerous place, somewhere to be avoided.

Gunther stopped halfway up the rise, looking out back towards the village and then up into the ancient trees, and took a deep breath to calm himself. The branches of each ancient tree seemed to be reaching up to try and catch the clouds that were being whipped along by the wind from the approaching storm. ‘How strange’ he thought to himself, ‘why would a tree......’ he brought his focus back down to the path beneath his feet, silently berating himself for thinking of trees the way you’d think of a person. A few steps up the slope he paused again, ‘when did he find a path?’ He didn’t remember looking for a path or finding one for that matter. He had just taken a deep breath and entered between 2 huge oaks.

Gunther shook his head; it was nothing but his mind, busy with his mission, not remembering something unimportant. He pressed on to the ridgeline, it seemed a lot thinner than he was expecting, although how could he expect anything in a place this different from home. He glanced back towards home, but distance made it too small to see, he hoped his family was safe, untouched by the sickness. He hoped he would see them again, after being chosen for the mission, to find the heart of the forest where a source of wisdom lay. The elders believed that this source would be able to give them a cure and save all the villages, so Gunther gathered a kit together and headed off.

He turned back to look across the ridge and into the forest sighing heavily. After a gentle slope downward towards about the same level as the plains, the thickly set trees spread out as far as his eyes could see. In this moment as the rain started to pound through the leaves above him Gunther felt the weight of despair and dread run through him. His eyes, searching the green for something that could be the heart of the forest, started to well up.

As the pounding raindrops set in Gunther turned to his left and continued along the ridgeline thinking this would give him the vantage point to see ‘the source’ or whatever evil was going to try and kill him. Every couple of miles he paused to search the green leafy carpet beneath the ridge until the clouds started to darken even more with the approaching night. He had a look around to try and find some sort of cover and noticed against the trunk of one tree some of the brush had tangled with vines over the massive roots. It made for an excellent shelter from the storm, as he sat down against the trunk, he laid his head back on the wood and breathed deep for a while, thinking of home and gently falling asleep.

Gunther woke the next morning to the warmth of the sun’s rays filtering through the leaves above. He pulled out the bundle of food his wife had prepared and had a nibble. Maybe he would have more luck now that the weather was clear. He stood and looked for the path he had been following, although he felt sure that it had continued along the ridgeline last night, it now led down the side of the ridge away from the villages. Maybe it was a trick of the light on a tired mind he thought to himself, and with one last glance back toward home he started down.

The path seemed to zigzag through the trees as Gunther kept searching, peering through the leaves and trunks as far as possible. By nightfall, the path had led him to a small stream tumbling along in-between thin reeds. He sighed in relief as by now his own water supply had been drunk. After poking the water suspiciously, he cupped his hands and drank deeply before refilling his bottles. Standing again he looked around for a place to rest for the night. Just slightly downstream was another tree that had brush and vines making a cover, just like last night’s. He curled up in its cover and a nibble of his food and slept.

The next morning, the path continued along the side of the stream and now every so often there was a berry bush, he paused at first uncertain if they were safe. The old tales whispered in his mind, but the deep green berries looked juicy and sweet, so he tentatively tried one. The juice burst out as he bit into it. At the first bush, he only had one but when the second bush appeared, and he still felt fine Gunther picked a handful to munch on as he walked and searched. Still feeling well, he collected a handful at each bush he passed and started to enjoy his walk, the fear of his surroundings disappearing with each bite.

That night there was another tree with a covering brush to provide shelter for him, and as he drifted off into sleep, he thought of how wonderful it would be to bring his family here.

As he awoke the next morning, he could hear a soft whispering in the air, he looked about but couldn’t see anything but the trees. Must be the wind he thought to himself, and he packed up and started along the path again.

About midmorning the path took a turn away from the stream, the trees were much closer together and the undergrowth denser. Just as Gunther was wondering if things had finally taken a dark turn everything opened into a wide grassy glade, in the middle was the biggest tree he had ever seen. He took a few steps towards the massive trunk but stopped abruptly when he heard a voice, deep and resounding.

“Welcome! You’ve proven yourself to be a friend of the forest, tell us now why you’ve come to us.”

Gunther looked around frantically but as his gaze came back around to the central tree, he saw it reach a branch down towards him.

He gulped, feeling frozen in place, and suddenly blurted out everything that had happened over the past few months. The coming of the sickness, being chosen for the mission of finding the source of wisdom, his journey, and all it had entailed. He felt the branch touch his arm the way his wife would when reassuring him and he gazed up into the tree before him.

“Do not panic young one. Today you have accomplished your goal, the source of wisdom is to honour the wild around you, all of nature breathes together linked by a lifeforce of love. The sickness came because your people forgot about the other life about them, they focused only on their own needs. But you have proven to us that your people can be kind, you have respected our gifts to you even though you didn’t understand where they came from. Your people’s choice of such a mind shows us that they are open to learning from us again. We shall push nutrients into the plains that will heal the sickness of your people, they should be well by the time you reach home.”

Gunther suddenly dipped to his knee and put a hand on the huge trunk of the tree. “Thank you” was all he could manage to say.

The walk back to the village was much shorter since the forest was willing to provide a path in a straight line back to the plains. As he approached the edge of his village Gunther saw his wife with both children running out to meet him. After a long greeting hug, they made their way to the town elders for Gunther to report on his mission. Everyone was looking so happy; the sickness was completely gone.

And now the villages visit the forest all the time, and the trip is much easier as the forest spread itself into the plains, living together again with room for all.