The Voice in the Woods

"Like the voices of the earth that fade away, like the animals that die and decay, the memory of the girl, Ebony was forgotten as days turned into years and years to decades. She was now a tree and a servant to the Spirit of the Woods. But even the Spirit had forgotten about her. Her voice got tired of singing. Her tears were tired of falling. She was now silenced - for a while..."

With the growth in the number of people, nature had to be removed. And so, the people began to eliminate the woods. They cut down the trees to make way for their farms. When they could not find more land to make their smoke houses, they cut more trees, destroying the woods. The Spirit of the Woods was never heard of ever again. Perhaps it became weakened because of the deforestation and could not come out and fight back and protect its saplings and trees and shrubs. It could only watch - if it could not come out of hiding - in horror at what Men did with its woods.

Chop! Chop! Chop! The axe's sharp and glistening blade met the hard bark of the tree that was the girl Ebony. Shards of bark and sap wood flew off and then they drifted to the floor. The men had planned to use the wood to make their chairs or maybe tables for their households, or maybe toys for their young. Work on the woods had begun a month ago. The heart of the forest remained. They only had a few more trees left.

"Stop! Please stop!" a little voice echoed in the little remains of the woods.

The workers around stopped chopping and lowered their axes and saws. They looked around. They looked at each other. Other than them, who was there?

It looked like no one was there. The workers shrugged. Maybe the work was getting to them. They had been working for a long time in these woods with no rest. It was the only possible answer. They strained to hear the voice again, but it did not come again. As soon as they assured that there was no one there, they went back to cutting and sawing the trees down.

"Please, stop hurting me! Please stop!" the little faint voice pleaded. It was a girl's voice. The workers stopped again. They looked around. Some girl was in trouble they thought, but where? Where could the girl be?

It sounded so faint. She must have been around there somewhere near the woods. The ten workers put down their tools and looked around once again. Who would dare hurt a girl?

They looked and looked around the area. They shouted, "Hello! Is anybody there? " There was no reply. They scoured the area but there was no sign of a girl or her pursuer.

So why was there a girl crying? Why was she not there? Was she really there? Or was it just happening in their heads? Questions began to stir in the workers' minds.

"Why are you slacking off?" a man dressed neater then the workers shouted as he came to check on them. He was the manager of all the workers toiling in the woods. "You aren't getting paid for standing around! Now get back to work!"

The workers quickly grabbed the handles of their tools wordlessly. They would not dare speak of the mysterious voice they heard. They did not want to be ridiculed by the manager.

Chop! Chop! Chop! The woods began to echo again with the sounds of work as the toilers got back to chopping and sawing and chopping and sawing. "Timber!" suddenly a strong voice shouted, breaking the sounds of work. Everyone moved away to a safe place as a tree fell to the ground after some tantalizing creaks.

And then back to the tree... Two workers, one small and young, the other stronger and bigger, began to cut Ebony down.

"Please sirs! Please do not hurt me!" the voice cried again.

The workers paused again. They stared at each other to see whether the other had heard the same voice.

"Did you hear that Jack?" the younger one asked.

The older one nodded, "We must be going crazy," he laughed at first. "Let's hurry. The sooner we get this done, the better. I don't like the sound of this."

They shrugged and then went back to work.

"Please! Please! I beg of you!" the voice pleaded with no success. The axes have done their job.

"Timber!" Jack shouted as he and his partner backed away a few safe steps. His voice trailed to the other workers around him.

The tree stood tall and firm for a few seconds. Suddenly the wood began to creak as it swayed to stand. A few seconds more, a blood curdling scream echoed in the remains of the woods as the tree fell to its side.

"Well, this is done," Joey said as he clapped his hands to brush of the splinters of wood off. "How many left?"

"Ten," Jack replied as he walked towards the tree they had just felled. He could hear a girl crying now. ‘ The deed has been done, ' he thought regretfully. He put his hand on the wood to check its quality.

"Keep your hands off me!" the voice shouted.

Jack's hand shot back to his side. He felt the voice reverberate in the fallen tree.

"Leave this place!" the voice cried.

"What's wrong Jack?" Joey asked. His voice was shaky. The people around him were looking here and there. There was no girl among them, nor was there a woman. Who was crying? Who did this voice belong to? It was now irksome; hearing voices was never a good sign.

"Leave and never return!" the girl's voice screamed angrily. "You have done enough damage here!"

Amidst the angry and scornful shouting, the men could hear tears.

Jack and Joey took a few steps backwards.

"Where are you little miss?" Jack shouted. He was still not prepared to believe his thoughts. ‘ The voice came from the tree Joey and I cut? '

"You have just felled me," the voice replied. "You would not stop hurting me when I pleaded you to stop. If you wish no harm on yourselves you better leave and hurt me no more. Please leave and never return."

The leaves on the fallen tree began to tremble. The voice hissed as they shook angrily in the motionless air. "Leave!"

Jack looked at everyone's faces. They were all surprised and trepidation was etched in them. Half of them had already dropped their tools and half way back home. They had all heard the voice.

The man gulped, his whole body shook.

"Leave before the Spirit of the Woods comes for you," the voice said. The voice was now hauntingly sad for the men. "The Spirit will come for vengeance."

Jack could see his fellow workers running away. Not wanting to know more, he too escaped. What had they done? Had they all gone mad?

Seeing them leave, the soul of Ebony began to weep again. There was no hope for her to return to her normal form. She wondered how long it would be before she decayed into the earth she was born on...