Children Of The Forest

CHILDREN OF THE FOREST

Once upon a time there was a very little girl who lived in a vast, dense, dark, cold forest. There, amongst great giants who were her caretakers, the little girl would spend her days imagining what might lie beyond the boundaries of her dim damp home. Sometimes she would find a small spot of sunlight that had somehow found its way through the thick forest canopy and she would marvel at the glowing wonder of golden warmth. She would reach out and touch it, allowing it to illuminate her pale thin skin and dance in it trying to get the tiny ray to kiss as much of her small body as possible. The giants were often taken aback by the little creature and did not understand her odd ways and strange behaviors. When they saw her acting so strangely, they would get very upset with her, so the little girl often tried to hide herself from the giants in order to continue with the wonders and dreams she had about the world. On a few occasions the little girl was brave enough to chase a beam of sunlight up a tree in hopes to find the source of its glorious radiance. Each time the little girl attempted to follow the trace of light, the giants would notice her and become angered. They, not understanding the little girl’s motives, would become offended by the little girl’s attempt at increasing her position in the forest. They feared that if she got too high up she would see their faces and become afraid and not love them anymore. So, with one swipe of a great hand, the little girl would be pushed out of the tree and tumble to the ground. Wounded and heartsick, the little girl would crawl up under the tree and holding back her tears she would think to her self, “At least today I hope they remember to feed me.”

One day, after much time, which, to the little girl was an eternity of unending days and nights spinning into one single reality like a prison of moments with neither past nor future, holding her in without hope, she lost her spirit and broke down. Unaware of the source of her great sorrow, she held in her grief long enough for the giants to go to sleep for the night, and ran off into the forest. She knew she could not allow the giants to see her discontent, for they would think her ungrateful of their love and grow angry and violent with her. So on she ran deep into the forest until she was stopped by a little pond and there she collapsed into the soft mud and wept deeply. Face down in the wet earth the little girl continued to weep until she had no more tears left to shed. Exhausted and disheartened she lifted her head from the mud and for the first time, took a good look around. She had never seen the little pond before and marveled at the scenery. It was then, as she admired her surroundings, that her eyes met with another’s. Stunned, she shot straight up and gasped, for she was sure she was alone, and even surer that there was nothing in the forest as small as she was. She was astonished to find that she was wrong on both accounts, for the pair of eyes belonged to a little green frog.

“Why do you cry so desperately?” asked the frog.

Now the little girl was even more aghast. “How is it that you can speak?” she stuttered, “Are you a magical frog?”

The frog tilted his head to one side and was silent for a moment while he studied the little girl. “I suppose,” he finally answered, “but I think we all have our own magic.”

“Me too?” asked the little girl widening her eyes, “Can you teach me?”

“Yes,” answered the little frog thoughtfully, sizing up the little girl, “but, you will have to come and see me as often as possible.”

The little girl smiled for the first time in a long time. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt warm inside. “Okay,” she said, her eyes twinkling, “As often as I can”.

With that she was off, returning to the giants with a sense of renewed hope.

As she promised, the little girl came back and visited the frog as often as she could, usually during the night when the giants were asleep, or when they sent her off to look for food or firewood. Together she and the frog would play around the pond and quickly became fast friends. Sometimes the frog would pretend to be the sunlight the little girl so desperately wanted to fully experience and the little girl would dance around him laughing and singing. Other times the frog would tell her stories about the world beyond the boundaries of her forest. The little girl enjoyed her visits with the frog and experienced feelings of happiness for the first time in her life. Each time she turned to leave the frog, however, he would call out the strangest question, which always disturbed the little girl.

“Little girl” the frog would call out as the little girl trotted away. Turning once again to face him the frog would ask her one question, the same question he asked her every time “Little girl, do you believe the giants?”

The little girl never quite knew how to respond to this question. “Is he testing my loyalty?” she thought, “Is my ability to love the giants in question, and is that where my magic will come from? Why does he question my love and trust for the giants? Is he trying to show me what a truly bad little girl I am…” her head would spin in confusion and she would finally answer the frog “Of course I do, why shouldn’t I?” But the frog would only return to the pond and wait until the little girl came for him again.

Finally one day, the little girl could take this question no longer. The persistence of the frog in asking her finally provoked her from annoyance to anger.

“Why do you ask me this?!” she cried out loud “You must also think that I’m a bad little girl like the giants do! Of course I believe the giants, I’m a good little girl, really I am!” her anger turned to bitter tears, “I don’t want to come and see you anymore” she added, and left the little frog, this time to never return.

The little girl remained close to the giants after that. She felt very guilty about sneaking away those many times, but what felt worse was her deep-seated resentment of the giants for not caring for her as the frog did. “Even if the frog did think I was as bad as the giants did, at least he was always kind to me.” She would think and then she would take that thought and push it away, “No! I love the giants I love the giants…” she would repeat over and over out of fear that the giants would detect her disloyalty. And one day, they did…

It was the worse fight ever, the giants were very angry with the little girl for appearing so sad. Their voices boomed in rage and the little girl just stood there shaking with her hands over her ears.

“You’re such a horrible little girl!” they shouted, “You are ungrateful and bad! Do you realize how unlovable you are?!”

Her head was spinning as she considered what the giants had just said.

“Frog!” she called out, and as though he had been there all the time, he appeared at her side. The little girl was happy to see him and she quietly asked, “Frog, do you love me?”

The little frog smiled and winked and warmly replied, “Of course I do, you’re just a little girl! What’s not to love?!”

The little girl looked back at the giants. She finally understood. “I don’t believe you” she whispered.

“What?” replied the giants.

“I don’t believe you,” she said a little louder.

“What?” said the giants again, this time in disbelief.

“I don’t believe you anymore!” now the little girl was shouting.

“WHAT!!!” roared the giants.

“I DON’T BELIEVE YOU! I DON’T BELIEVE YOU ANYMORE!” Screamed the little girl over and over with clenched fists and tightly closed eyes. She screamed for so long and so loud that after a time, she almost completely lost her voice and her little body trembled.

Not able to continue, she opened her eyes, first one then the other, and peered out at the giants. But there were no longer any giants! Instead, in their place, stood little children like her self, cold, hungry and dirty.

“All this time” she gasped, “all this time you couldn’t even take care of yourselves! What made you think you could take care of me?” The children only gazed at her with empty sad eyes. “I must leave this place,” declared the little girl. “I don’t think this forest is any place for children.”

With that the children cried out in fear. “Don’t leave us!” they pled, pulling at their hair and tattered clothes

“Then come with me,” replied the little girl, sternly.

“NO!” they cried out in terror turning and running into the forest leaving the little girl and the frog alone.

The little girl gazed down at the frog. “Will you show me the way out of the forest” she asked meekly.

“I won’t leave your side,” he responded ever so gently.

It was a long and difficult journey to the forest’s edge. Many times the trek was exciting, but others it was frightening. Sometimes the little girl would just sit down, not wanting to go any further out of fear and fatigue. She didn’t know what to expect anymore, and she was afraid to continue into the unknown, but
she couldn’t go back either, for her life before was only an illusion. She felt stuck and paralyzed, but the frog, with undying commitment, would stay with her until she was encouraged enough to go on.

And one day she arrived. The forest’s edge was at her feet, and the open fields beyond spread out in front of her. Sunlight from the clear, unobstructed sky invited the little girl out to be immersed in its nurturing warmth.

“It’s time,” said the frog, standing, as always, close to her side. “It’s time for you to leave the forest”

The little girl gazed down at her beloved frog and companion. Her face was glowing and her smile was beautiful, she was happy. “Let’s go, then” she said slowly taking a step.

“I can’t” said the frog, and the little girl stopped.

“But you have been with me all this time, why can’t you continue?”

“It is bright and warm out there”, he replied, “and you have no need for frogs in the sunlight. I belong here, in the forest”.

Somehow, the little girl understood. She was on her own now and there were no longer any giants. She hugged her frog and, taking a deep breath, stepped out into the sunlight. The little frog watched as her small body lit up, taking in total warmth for the first time. With her arms lifted upwards she began to dance and the little frog watched on as she disappeared over the open plains.

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