The Woods

There was a wood. A cluster of trees, who encircled a small clearing. They protected it, and secured it. Saved it from the areas surrounding. In the wood there lived a creature, small and frail who kept to the wood for its safety, and often lounged in the security of the clearing, taking shade under the branches and dabbling its feet in the pond. A woodsman happened by one day, toting a very large sharp axe. The woodsman knelt by the pond, cupped his hand and drew a drink. He wiped his hand behind his neck to cool himself. The creature was enthralled with the woodsman, and fell in love with him. The creature memorized the woodsman’s every move, whether he understood it or not, and learned the ways of the woodsman. And one day, long after the woodsman had gone, the tiny creature sat in the clearing, with all of the trees at his feet, the pond long since dry. The creature wiped the sweat from his brow, and tried to remember how happy the days had been, before he became a woodsman.