Walking through the woods during a snowstorm
#1 of writings
a short story I wrote a few years ago that actually happened
Walking through the woods during a snowstorm has always been an experience I enjoy. Using it to clear my mind of all the worries and frustrations that had built up over time. Doing so I have always felt at peace with the world and myself at these times.
As I moved through the forest, I came upon a small clearing. Even though it wasn't my first time there, it felt like it was. The feeling was magical, almost like everything was new. Yet it also felt as if I was intruding.
Looking up, the sky was a mixture of light and dark grays that were hard on my eyes, as they tried to find patterns were there were none. The air had a cold yet sharp, metallic smell that was almost totally sterile.
Standing there at the edge of the clearing, yet still among the trees. I watched the snow falling. The large fluffy shimmering flakes slowly, mindlessly taking their place among the rest. Forming a carpet of almost blinding, sparkling, white against a backdrop of black, gray, and dark browns that only served to make the snow seem even brighter.
The silence was so intense and all pervading that my ears strained just to hear any sound at all. The silence gave the illusion of my being the only person in the world. Yet as I stood there I slowly realized I had company. To my right a doe stood looking over the clearing. Then slowly and quietly she walked into the clearing and stopped in front of me, ever so slowly she turned her head and looked directly at me with no fear, just curiosity.
It felt as if we had watched each other for a long time. Yet not long enough for me to absorb all of her beauty. Her fur perfectly in place, her lines so obviously built for speed yet moving so slowly. Her eyes so liquid and so deep, I felt I could drown in them.
Then having made the decision I was not a threat, she slowly and deliberately turned away, then she continued her stroll across the clearing, and vanished among the trees. So quietly that for a moment I wondered if she was just a dream and yet her tracks very plainly crossed the clearing.
Breaking the magical moment a large gray squirrel suddenly realizing I was there, started loudly scolding me for trespassing on its small corner of the world. It was hard to believe something so small, could make so much noise, for such a long time.
Then with an innocent wonder so common for children yet rare for adults. I left the clearing knowing this memory would always remain with me; bright and clear like a treasure, in my mind.
Many times since that day I have walked during snowstorms, always letting my mind clear coming to peace with both the world and myself. Always hoping for another experience to equal that day by the clearing.
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