May's Workshop Stories

Family Time

The trek through the forest was a long one. Every dark shadow hid something different in its embrace. The forest was more alive than I thought possible.

As we walked through it, every crunch of the branches echoed loudly, followed by the movements of small creatures we couldn't see. I didn't know all the animals that called the forest their home, but I knew there were many.

I could feel their presence in every movement, in every low sound that echoed loudly. Every part of the forest seemed alive, even the roots that kept tripping me.

Luckily, I was too small to carry anything for the picnic we had in mind on the other side. Otherwise, I would have dropped everything and spoiled the fun that we had planned for that lovely day.

Once we finally exited the dark belly of the forest, the bright sunlight blinded me for a second, and I couldn't see anything. It was as if there was nothing left beyond the forest, only the emptiness.

However, once my eyes adjusted to the sunshine, I could see the tall grass reaching to snatch me away from the nearby field. Its multiple hands were beckoning to me, inviting me into their clutches.

I refused the invitation, knowing that the path we were on was the safest way to get to the special place we had in mind. These wheat fields hid in them the terrible monsters that terrified even my mother.

I hadn't seen them before. But I knew that anything that could scare my mother, who was usually not afraid of anything, must be something frightening. The name she gave to those beings didn't mean anything to me, but even the name itself sounded scary; snakes.

"Come on, hurry up! You don't want to get lost!" my mother said as I started lagging behind, lost in my thoughts.

I moved my legs as fast as possible to catch up with them as being alone in this place didn't sound like a good idea. What if the monsters found me?

Finally, we reached the clearing that was the goal of our trip, the green meadow in the middle of nowhere, a place where the human foot had rarely stepped, which was left to the reign of beasts of nature.

Even at such a young age, I knew that not all of them were nice, snakes being the most obvious example. Thus, my parents quickly built a wooden shelter to protect us from all the dangers of the outside world.

It was made of wood but was very sturdy nonetheless. I hoped that it would be enough to protect us from the scorching rays that wished to fry my gentle skin as well as from those unwanted visitors with fangs.

My parents put the drinks in the nearby cold stream, whose surface was so chilly that just touching it made cold spread throughout my whole body. Its icy water was the perfect resting place for the drinks we carried with us. Its icy embrace wouldn't allow the juice to be corrupted by the overwhelming heat of the sun.

In the meantime, we took pieces of chopped-up animals, some ground, some whole, and put them over the fire. We were looking with pleasure as they were consumed by flames and the smell of roasted meat overpowered all other scents in the valley.

We rejoiced at the sight, huge smiles spreading across our faces as the animals ceased to exist and became the next meal that we were ready to devour as soon as possible.

Drool ran down my face as I imagined biting into the flesh, tearing it to pieces, and then enjoying the rich flavor, one without which I couldn't imagine my life.

As the forest watched us devour its brethren, we exclaimed in joy at the sensation of strength and content that spread through our bodies. We felt great after our hunger had been satiated.

The sad call of a bird mourning for the loss of its friends didn't touch our hearts; it didn't tinge them with regret.

We enjoyed the song. It was the sweetest melody to our ears.

Together we sat and laughed while putting the bones of our meal aside to mark our territory.

Then we proceeded to drink out beverages that stole the coolness of the stream and defied the heat of the sun. We felt like the cleverest beings there. Yet, the eyes watching us from concealment didn't agree with us.

As the chill set on the land, we retreated to our sturdy homes to hide from dangers that lurked outside content in the knowledge we could escape it all.