Forest Dreams

Ron Koppelberger

Forest Dreams

He finds himself tempted by the fire, almost overwhelmingly. The dark phantasms that whisper his name over and over again, “Almar Downy, Almar Downy!” He lays unsleeping except for the waking dream, the dream of flames and perdition. He stands before a forest of tall iron pines, there is no way through the wood…except for the hacksaw. He approaches the first tree and begins sawing the lower branches off of it. Soon he has a pile of timber, it must burn he thinks. Lighting a match he sets the pile of branches on fire then begins sawing at another of the trees and another, and another until he has giant heaps of timber to burn. Perhaps he will see his way to the other side of the woods.
The day moves forward into the twilight hours of dusk and still Downy finds himself burning and sawing at the trees. The first sliver of moonlight shines through the trees and the bright orange glow of the fires cast a hazy aura into the dense tree line. “Almar Downy, “ they whisper again, “Almar Downy…”
He saws at the branches until the piles overwhelm the terrain, piles of burning brush in great conflagrations. In the end the woods catch the flame and the tall iron pines light the night sky with a burnt umber glow, smokey and hot. Near morning tide the forest has revealed itself as ash and soot, a once proud enclave for those who seek shelter from the edge of the world. The edge of the world, and this is what Almar found on the other side.
Tall buildings crumbling with decay and great mountains of refuse, a small dirty pond filled with plastic containers and tin cans. A reflection of what lay just beyond the forest.
Almar walked over to the small dirty pool of water and looked at his reflection there and he saw tired eyes, dark half moons and dirty smudges of soot across his face. Had he dreamed all of this or was this his fate.
He stood before the tall pine with hacksaw in hand and looked forward, in that moment he realized that it was not the view to the other side that he wanted and instead he built a house from the surrounding trees, a place to hide from the other side and a shelter against the future, for one day he would have to go to that pond and look into it, but for now the forest would remain his shelter and his sanctity, his peace of mind like the soul of a wise owl who knows the way.