by Raptocidic » Fri Apr 06, 2018 4:10 am
His toes gently patted the gravel pathway as he promptly left for the forest. He felt a dry, sharp pain in every footstep as bare foot met the unnatural floor. His strides were strong yet quiet as he snuck away into the arms of the scrambled trees. The gravel faded below the stars as plants begun to push and shove their way through the gaps, eventually engulfing the tiny individual stones. The forest was working at a construction site, labouring away at a path that would pave a new life for Lake. The stars smiled at him as he traveled deeper into the forest.
The old pathway soon disintegrated in front of him as he continued onwards. Nature wove itself into a new pavement of grass and leaves and surrounded him with a wall of twisty trees. A new texture on his toes; cold, damp and yet soft. A softness softer than candyfloss clouds under a burning sunset. Softness softer than freshly washed fluffy fur. A soft of a different kind, a softness created by love, natures love. A softness created by the hard working creatures of the forest, from the sturdiest stag to the tiniest insects, a never ending balance of perfection.
He reached a small clearing where the trees had parted and shuffled to the corners of the crowd. A gentle breeze brushed past his mane and whispered into his ears. Lake paused and knelt down. He brushed his paw over the soft soil before scooping a bit up and letting it crumble back to the ground. Lake took a few seconds to close his eyes. The disturbance to the soil sent an echo of earthly smells to his nose, reminding him of his newly found freedom.
Lake sat down on a grassy patch and turned his focus upwards towards the night sky. The crowded treetops reached hopefully to the stars, believing that if they climb high enough they might one day reach something new. Above the stretched arms of the trees sparkled hundreds of stars, each one smiling brighter than anything Lake had ever seen. A single rogue star shot across the sky like a bullet, burning and fizzing at the atmosphere before it disappeared into a faint sparkle of dust.
An owl glided through the twinkling scenery that Lake was watching. It darted so gracefully through the trees as if it were a dancer on stage, dancing to a vibrant upbeat country tune. Crowds would flock in to watch the show of predator and prey. The showname would be nature's balance and the audience would be all living creatures who were tick to tock in time with the chime of the natural planet. Lake continued to observe, the longer he stared to the beautiful star lit sky the more he discovered. The more tiny details only children previously had time to look for, hidden under every rock and gap in the floor. Looking up at the sky only made him look at his world even more.
A grasshopper played a crooked violin, untuned and yet synthesize to the ways of the forest, creating an orchestra of an uneven tune. He could hear a tip toe of a fox's paw against crackled leaves, the fox creeping through the shadows of it's home. The trees gently swayed in the wind like hula dancers on a tropical holiday. Yet Lake felt no need to be in the tropics when he'd found a true paradise right on his backdoor, an escape he could now always run to, if he wanted.
Lake felt at ease. For once in his life he took a break from his travels and just observed the world in one set, still location. He wasn't drowning in a flood of work, for once in his life he too was in time with the world, observing the beauty in every corner of the crowded clearing. The trees didn't make room for him, the stars didn't smile for him. They did these things for everyone, so everyone could enjoy their existing gracefulness.
