Forest Dreams

A woman visits a small town briefly after being alone in nature for a while.

She had no idea where the marching band came from.  She didn’t even know a town this petite would have a marching band, but then she wasn't familiar with this place.  She was an alien here. 

Her senses were assaulted by the clangourous clash of cymbals invading her eardrums, and by the gaudy green garments grimly filling her vision.

 

This wasn’t what she was used to.  She preferred the lush greenness up in the hills �" the peacefulness of mountain air, fresh on the nose, calming on the mind.  The din of mixed metal didn’t exist in her world.  Chattering chipmunks scatter pine cones, branches snapping under the weight of bleary-eyed badgers, these were the sounds of her deciduous dream.  A dream she had decided to live years ago.  Free of possessions and filled with nature in all its precious love, she had never looked back. 

A fact that was reinforced here on the kerb.

 

Grimacing at the scene before her, she turned back around and entered the camping store.  There were some things you couldn’t get in the forest.  With autumn stalking her wooded home like a ruby red shadow, ready to steal the greenery and send temperatures downward, she required warmer garments and a superior sleeping bag.

 

She smiled as she let her fingers slowly trail of plastic mugs, sporks, gas canisters, tent pegs, ropes, lanterns and other assorted camping knickknacks. 

 

As she left the store, she noticed the parade had moved into another street, so she decided to wait to put some distance between herself and the mass of noise and people.  Sitting at the kerbside, she chose to repack her rucksack with her new supplies.  Keeping her worn bushman’s hat low to avoid eye-contact with anyone, she meticulously got rid of any packaging that was needlessly attached to her items.  

A small voice caught her attention.  Across the small dusty street was a cheap looking café, with a vintage looking Coke machine outside and dirty white plastic chairs outside, it didn’t look entirely beckoning.  Most pedestrians passed it on by (probably to use the new fast food joint that had appeared out of thin air like magic).  But on these chairs sat a little girl and her father, and he was asking her what she wanted to be when she grew up.

 

“I want to work with the animals”, was the response. 

Putting her rucksack on her back, she walked passed the café slowly to listen to more of the conversation.

 

“You need to stay in school then.  Study hard”, said the dad, authoritatively, staring at his mobile phone.

“Huh-uh”, said the little girl nodding, also staring at a small screen in her hand.

“Then go to University after the big school like your brother”, he said.

 

It reminded her of a similar conversation she had had with her dad.  One in which she told him she was quitting University after three months, and going for her dream to be with nature.

“That’s such a long time away though!” the little girl mourned, clicking buttons.

“If you want to be happy and get what you want, it's the only way,” said the dad, swiping his device like a zombie.

 

Picking up the pace, she left the café behind and stood in the middle of the exit road out of town.  She could see her reflection in the dirty side window of an old parked car.  She saw a girl who looked vibrant and healthy, rosy cheeks mixed with a determined stare.  She was happy, and she could see it, and feel it within her like it was an actual human organ, beating and throbbing with intensity.

As she left, she could hear the faint fury of ferocious instruments as the parade began to fade away as she the forest enveloped her.

The intensity within her started to grow once more.

Author's Note

Part of the #BePositiveWriteNow project - The First Sentence
Each first sentence in each story is given by an Instagrammer

Reviews

[Emma]

"clangourous clash of cymbals"
Loved the alliteration in this piece! Also enjoyed the story a lot x

[#BePositiveWriteNow]

Thank you Emma. I'll let you in on a secret - I was sitting on the train, and the noise coming from the earphones of the person sitting next to me was exactly that sound. They had it turned up way too loud.