The Trees are alive 

The first time you walk through the forest as a kid, everything seems dead. You know this to be false, yet it is boring. You hear the rustle of the branches, the moan of wood and crunch of leaves underfoot; but it’s not enough.

This changes as you continue to go deeper. An unexplained feeling to return to the woods, to be with this symphony of energy. 

The more you join in, the more you spot things. All sorts of animals and insects doing their jobs. Creeping about in the silent canopy. 

You realise this “dead” land is more alive than anything you’ve seen before. It moves, talks and feels all by itself; only just realising it after many trips. After a long while, you also feel this. And it increases on every future visit.

Before the feeling, you get a sense of magic. A real life mystery wrapped up in the moss and the leaves. As if something is trying to break free and reach you. It will start to call you, during day to day life. Dreams may start to occur about this sense.

During your visits, you get a random, fleeting visit. Whilst carefully navigating the forest, walking like the trees have taught you, across log and moss and stone, contributing to the silence; is when you feel it. 

Despite contributing to the silent sonata, stepping with careful precision, it cuts you to the bone.

A wave of energy passing over you like freezing water. Commanding every hair on your body to stand on edge, even after the part you play, you stop dead. 

It feels like eternity. 

You stop breathing, your eyes wide shut, Engaging the chameleons cloak. You too, become like the forest.

Regardless, you know you’re being watched. It’s a familiar feeling you hope never to feel and yet, in the middle of the forest, invisibly stopped, something has cast its glare upon you. 

Your instincts go into over drive. You must leave and quick, but going fast is against the rule of the wood. 

As you break the silent spell, you move slowly, ignoring the need to run.

But another sense arises. You want to turn back, go deeper, get lost. It sits in your mind as an uncomfortable weight. Even with the sense that if you did this, you may never return. The thought sits there. 

In the ancient kingdom of the Trees, you are subject to their rules. You are watched and you are judged. You will be spoken to or shouted at. And each forest is different from the last, with its own temperament.

Similar to the Tree. Some are wise and benevolent. Some are cunning and evil. Respect the woodland and keep an ear out for these callings. 

The Trees are alive. They wait and watch, the move and expand. Their lives becoming entangled into yours. 

Honour the forest. Honor the Tree. 

Soulsurfer.