Nature's change

Summer in the hills, green grass flowing as far as the eye could see. Sunlight shimmered off the water of Star Pond. The pond was large, located on the top of the tallest hill in the area and at night you could see the reflection of stars in the water.

Small cottages dotted the landscape, warm and cozy at night, a roaring hearth located in each little home, and cool and breezy during the day. The hill land ended abruptly at a valley where the mounds of earth of every size suddenly dropped off and made way for flat emerald green land. The tall grass of the valley swayed in the wind like waves in the ocean.

The warm days of summer and swimming in lakes gave way to the Fall season. The Fall colored the grass and trees with warm yellow, orange and red. The tall grass dried and looked like a golden wheat field. The best food of the year was harvested, stored and feasted on.

The valley had more cottages and houses clustered together. The terrain was forgiving and ripe for farming. At the edge of the valley was a great and mighty forest. Few forests in the world could be described as ‘mighty’, but the Ancient Wildwood not only covered a large section of land but the deeper into the forest the stronger the trees grew. The tall old trees were as big around as a cottage and the bark was as strong as iron. The people of the Valley would harvest the trees on the edge of the forest but no one ever successfully chopped down a tree in depths of the Ancient Wildwood.

The tall and ancient trees still bowed to nature like all trees do and their leaves we awash with bright orange and red. The Wildwood was so vibrant in the fall it could be seen for miles and looked as if it had caught fire.

The leaves of Autumn fell as the days grew cold. Late Autumn rain, cloudy skies and the bare branches of ancient trees made an eerie yet beautiful sight. A man carrying a lantern walked through the deep Wildwood, his small light bounced with each step. Through the forest and onto the edge of the land was a steep cliff side. The sheer cliff would have been impassible if not for a small winding trail that lead from the forest down to the sand beach below.

The path was steep and one false step could lead to a deadly fall to the shore below. Down the path and onto the windy beach, the rain from the season mixed with the cold of the ocean. Waves crashed against the sand, rain fell from the sky and wind blew in from the furthest reaches of the world.

Autumn drifted away like a falling leaf and winter blew. The rain was replaced with snow and the cold air mixed with the warm exhaling breath. Visible steam like breath puffed from the traveler’s nose and mouth as he stepped aboard a large ship. The ship was leaving this land and off to explore the unknown.

The chill brought in from the ocean heightened the cold of winter. Back in the forest the animals hid inside the great trees for shelter. The Ancient Wildwood might have lost its leaves but it would not bend to even the coldest winds of winter. The Wildwood lasted hundreds of years and stood against hundreds of winters. The people of the land did not worship the Ancient Wildwood but they did treat it with respect and hoped to also be as sturdy and enduring as the forest itself.

The snow had settled in the valley, the wind from the ocean was broken by the cliffside and tall standing forest. Trails of smoke lifted up from a dozen chimneys, the smoke curled and twisted on the breeze as it floated away.

From the Valley to the Hills, the snow had settled everywhere. The hills were so covered in snow that it was hard to tell where the snow stopped and the rock began. Star Pond had frozen over, the ice shimmered like glass and the pond took on an even more mystical aura as if it were a giant mirror hidden away in the hills.

Night in the hills was clear and every star was visible. The cold of winter sent chilling wind blowing over the glassy Star Pond. The people in the Valley often told stories of highest hill and Star Pond. They worried that on winter nights, when the air was cold and the sky appeared larger than normal, it would be possible to fall up into the blackness of space.

Just as night faded to day so did winter melt away. Spring crept in, slow and with caution. The snow turned to puddles, the Pond turned from icy glass back to water and the earth turned damp and muddy. The gray skies, rainy weather and muddy ground was far from the bright bloom of spring that most wished for but the damp weather meant water for plants and the plants did grow and eventually they bloomed. The bright blooming flowers and trees sprung up across the Hills and Valley. The Ancient Wildwood turned emerald green and the ocean by the shore calmed to a more reasonable pace.

            The people of the Hills and Valley were happy, they began their planting of crops, the children played in the muddy valley and swam in the cold water of Star Pond. The land and people grew another year older and observed another year of natures changing beauty.