Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright

Introduction

The inspiration for this short tale is inspired by the introduction to the William Blake poem and the Vocal "Whispering Woods" Challenge.

'Tyger Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry? '

Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright

It was night.

The forest's trees whispered to each other, they were the Whispering Woods, and this was their home and had been their lives since the clock of time came into being.

Humans and creatures seldom came into the forest, when they passed into the trees they felt a presence, felt that they were being watched by something that may or may not wish them harm.

The Whispering Woods conversed with each other and when their domain was entered they talked and the trespassers heard and saw things, like eyes mouths, and faces in the bark of the trees, and words being formed by the wind blowing through the leaves on the branches.

Their words and conversations often went:

"What is this, that this way comes?"

"It is a manbeast, it is a dogbeast, it is a birdbeast"

"Do we need to force them away?"

"They fear us, they fear our form, they fear our sounds, they do not understand that we are their God, so they will leave in fear, and tell others not to come. Only those who have never felt our presence, or heard of us, will venture among us"

"Without us, their villages would flood. They would not be able to breathe, and our children of the fields give them fruit and other foods. We are truly their God and provider"

Then one day a creature that they had never seen entered their forest, and the creature seemed to burn with a fiery glow. What was this creature?

It showed no fear of the Whispering Woods lifting its visage to observe the faces of the trees and to listen to the conversations in the leaves.

This creature could hear their conversations and understood their words. This was something new to the Whispering Woods, they had never communicated with an outsider before. Then they asked:

WW: "What are you, we have never seen a creature like you. You glow with an inner fire. Do you mean us harm or do you want to share with us"

Tyger: "I am a Tyger, and I seek knowledge, and friendship, throughout this universe of ours. I heard your voices from afar on my travels and came to talk with you and find out more, and maybe share some tales of mine"

WW: "Greetings Tyger, we are the Whispering Woods, we are guardians of the Earth, and we manage it well so that all can live in peace and harmony. We have been here forever and intend to be here evermore, we are Nature's Gods"

Tyger: "My fire and glow is my thirst for knowledge and friendship that burns within me, it is not harmful, although I am powerful enough to defend myself and my friends if I am ever called upon. I have talked with mountains, and spoken with coral reefs in the deep oceans. They have shared much with me and I with them, and with each meeting I leave much more knowledgeable and with many more friends. Can we spend some time together and tell each other about the things we have learned? If so, when I walk out of this forest my glow will have increased, and you will learn much about my travels across the worlds of this universe."

WW: "Let us talk and share our minds, you are new to us and we are to you, we will share each other"

And so the Whispering Woods and the Tyger talked, laughed, and shared with each other and when they parted, each had gained both knowledge and friendship.