THE FOREST called to her.
Whispers tickle her ears as they move from leaf to leaf,
carried by the relentless wind. The moist fog stills as she pushes through to
the unknown blur of mixed greens. Her clothes become damp and a chill slips
over her spine. She knows better than to follow the hum. Hum of promise and
hope, yielding her with a lust that cannot be stifled. With each step, her
stride becomes lengthier yet more graceful. This
is not a good idea, fight it! A voice so strange but familiar barks to her.
She ignores it, bound by this impeccable desire. She can no longer see the cloudless
sky, only the remains of the flickering sun. Bright fragments of light slither
through the dark wooded branches and moss covered trunks. Don’t take one more step! The voice screeches in her head, but she thrusts
it further back into her stupefied and foggy mind. She is lost. Lost to a world
unexplainable yet imaginable. Too long has she resisted the urge to follow. Too
long does she wish to hum those whispers. Too long has she been unable to feel
the earth pulse through her. And as she drifts further into the forest, Celia
Evergreen knew she would never return.