Annabelle in the Woods

 Ordinary days didn’t exist for Annabelle. But it was certainly a stranger day than normal, that sunny summer morning she woke up with a wild desire to explore the woods. She had looked out her window shortly after waking and could see the edge of the woods. There was something extra wondrous that day. There was a flicker of magic rumbling up from the tree tops. She followed that magic rumble and soon it turned into the sound of birds chirping. High into the trees hundreds of birds swooped and ruffled their feathers and chirped mighty bird songs! Annabelle had a similar love for singing as those merry little birds. When she heard the jingle jangled clamor of birds trills and tweets and chirps above her, she was filled with inspiration. She found a sturdy tree and began to climb, higher and higher, until she found herself in a spot surrounded by the most beautiful melody created by many bird voices harmonizing together. For a brief and silly moment, Annabelle felt bashful. But then that inspiration swelled in her chest again. She spread her arms wide and sang with joyful, reckless abandonment! Annabelle was officially a member off the Ornithological Glee Club!

When one sings, it often inspires the body to move. After her session with the birds, Annabelle was walking through the woods, whistling and tapping her feet! Annabelle wasn’t the only one moving in the woods. In the distance, she saw a moving, glittering, flickering mass. “How peculiar!” she thought. As she moved closer, she saw the glittering mass was a troop of dancing ghosts! While ghosts often have the reputation of being spooky, Annabelle has met many a ghost in her day and they were always nothing but delightful and polite. So she moved toward the ghosts with confidence and was quickly immersed in the spirit of the party as she danced with joyful abandonment.

Annabelle was quite sweaty form her dance party with the ghosts. She decided to cool off by taking a dip in a glistening lake with ducks peacefully floating a top it. The water beckoned to her. “Geronimo!” Annabelle yelled as she dove into the lake. The little baby ducklings scattered as the water rippled the surface. Underneath the water, she came across the most delightful party. Several turtles huddled around a freshly baked pie. One of the turtles was just about to slice the pie when Annabelle came floating there way.

“Hewoooooo” Annabelle greeted in a mixture of words and bubbles.

“What a peculiar creature.” One turtle said.

“What do you suppose it is?” Another asked.

“Stranger and stranger!” A third turtle says.

“Let’s serve it some pie and figure out what it is!” The fourth turtle declared with excitement.

Annabelle was willing to do a lot in order to get pie. Answering the prying questions of a group of curious turtles seemed small potatoes for the reward of sweet, delicious pie. So while they huddled around the rock table, Annabelle told tales of human beings. She started with stories as they once were, fur covered and swinging from branches. She told about great humans from history such as Amelia Earhart, Lucy the missing Link, Frances Nightingale, Cleopatra and Rosa Parks. She told about mundane days of summer, watching the sunset while making friendship bracelets. She told about grand accomplishments such as exploring the world, creating languages and inventing fabulous creations. She talked about ways humans were different from turtles such as warm blood and the inability to go to long without fresh oxygen. As she finished the last sentence, she realized she really need a breath of air. She gently placed down her plate, bid the turtle’s adieu, and burst upward toward the sunlight and fresh air.

Annabelle wished the turtles had shared more of their story, although she did enjoy telling hers. She knew that all the animals had their own secret histories, just as humans do. Not all creatures or as curious and private as turtles though. The squirrels are by nature chatty little fellows. So when Annabelle came upon a squirrel, she asked the squirrel to tell her everything there is to know about squirrel-kind. The squirrel obliged and told his story. ““A long time ago, my kind lived in a different world. It was a world full of peace. The squirrels lived in harmony, sharing everything from acorns to well wishes. But one day, a monster was unleashed upon their land. The monster chased the squirrels away from their home. The squirrel folk wanted to stay and defend their lands, but they had never been the type to tend toward violence. They had no way to defend themselves so they fled. They ran toward the shore where their boats were moored. The sea was turbulent, but not as turbulent as the wrath of the monsters. It would be a great wonder that their salvation came in the same form as their destruction: a monster! Slithering through the sea, they came upon the most magnificent sea serpent. The sea serpent was friendly and kind. She could see that the squirrels were struggling. She asked the squirrels what they were in search for. They replied they were looking for a new land to call their own. The sea serpent bowed and said that upon her back was a land like no other and they were welcome to inhabit the world upon her back. They didn’t know how to thank her, but they wept with joy. They moored their boats and climbed upon their new home. On her back was a mighty mountain, glistening in the sun. They climbed the mountain for ten months and ten days and finally came upon the perfect forest to call their own. They built homes and a community. The squirrels were at peace again. The squirrels never forgot the kindness of the sea serpent. This is why sometimes on a tree or on an acorn you may see an image of a sea serpent depicted. The squirrels places these images there in honor of their great savior. And that is the story of my people”

“Wow!” Annabelle said. She knew she would never see squirrels in the same light again.

Annabelle had her heads in the clouds, thinking of the squirrel’s story as she continued on her walk. To the inhabitants of the next place she visited, her head would seem very much in the clouds, as Annabelle appeared to them as a towering giant. The next place she visited was a delightful, little village.  A very little village: The bug village! All of the inhabitants of the village were adorable little bugs. There were merry grasshoppers leaping and bounding around the village. There were plumb bumble bees, fur full of pollen, toes tipped with honey. And there were rosy cheeked and rosy shelled ladybugs, tumbling this way and that. Annabelle didn’t want to disturb the village too much, so she stayed at a short distance and observed. It was amazing how these little bugs lived life not all that dissimilar to her own. She wondered if every bug she’d ever seen lived in a bug village and only came to more human corners of the world temporarily before heading back home. Annabelle certainly knew she would never treat a bug in a harsh way again. When she saw a bug crawling across her path, she would do everything in her power to avoid stepping on it. When a spider created a web in the corner of her room, instead of screaming, she would welcome it to it’s new home. As Annabelle pondered bugs, she watched several bugs play music together. “Oh bugs are wondrous little things!” She thought to herself.

The bugs in the bug village were not the only wondrous bug Annabelle met. As she was leaving the bug village, she came across a snail pulling  a carriage. He jauntily offered her a ride, and Annabelle wasn’t about to miss the opportunity. She hoped into the carriage, leaned back and looked out the window as the snail very slowly pulled her along. Annabelle quickly realized she could walk quicker then the snail could pull her, but if she was walking she wouldn’t be able to admire the scenery in the same way. There was something magical about the way the world appeared when in that snails carriage. Things that once appeared small were huge, things that once appeared huge were monumental to the extreme of infinity.

The snail took her through all sorts of amazing scenery. Annabelle admired the underside of flower petals as the sunlight filtered through the thin, colorful petals. The snail edged past a caterpillar munching on a leaf. The sound of the crunch boomed around them. The fuzzy caterpillars fur looked menacing and sharp rather than adorable, the way it usually looked. Annabelle observed mushroom, the feathers of nearby birds, porous rocks, grass blades and other itty bitty parts of nature in a whole new light.

“If only I could be small forever and explore the world from a whole new perspective!” Annabelle thought wistfully. But soon enough, she was stepping out of the carriage into the perspective she was accustomed to. But never again would she look at any tiny thing the same way.

The snail dropped Annabelle off right at the the rabbit kingdom. Annabelle was thrilled to be allowed admittance to the rabbit kingdom. It was a rare and beautiful honor. Annabelle crawled around the warren kingdom, meeting all the different rabbits and engaging in their favorite activities. In the last burrow Annabelle visits, she finds three rabbits huddled around a Ouija board.

“We are trying to summon the spirits of our great ancestors. We want to commune with them and learn the ancient rabbit skills lost to time.” One of the rabbits said in response to Annabelle’s curious face.

“But we are having such poor luck at contacting the great old spirits.” Another rabbit said, a note of defeat in his squeaky rabbit voice.

“I can help with that!” Annabelle said, eager to be an asset to the amazing rabbit kingdom community. “Not to toot my own horn, but I have great abilities communing with the deceased.” She said, thinking fondly of her dancing ghost friends.

Annabelle sat down in front of the Ouija board. She closed her eyes and placed her hands gently on the planchette. “Come forth oh great rabbit spirits!” She decried in a powerful voice.

Suddenly, the dark burrow was glowing with bluish light. Before them were the long deceased king and queen rabbit of yesteryear. All the rabbits ohhhed and awed. The great rabbit ghosts then began to tell stories and old wisdoms. They taught the rabbits about which herbs cured rabbit fever, about how to use blackberry juice and the fur off their own backs to create beautiful paintings.  They learned how to dig more efficient burrows and how to create more efficient light in the dark. They learned how to grown their own vegetables so they would no longer have to depend on the vegetables of surely farmers. They learned all these great wisdoms and more. Just as suddenly as the rabbit spirits appeared, they disappeared and the calming blue light of their ghostly forms vanished.

“Thank you Annabelle! Thank you, thank you!” The rabbits hollered. They gave her a daisy chain necklace and a lunch of carrot cake to thank her, before she crawled out of the warren and into the light of day.

Annabelle walked away from the rabbit kingdom pondering what it would be like to meet her own great ancestors when her thoughts were we interrupted by the sound of a beautiful song. The song had words about far off lands sung in a human voice. The backup lyrics were meowed by a chorus of cats. Annabelle followed the sound deeper and deeper into the woods. There she saw the forest witch tending to her mushroom garden.

“Hello.” Annabelle said to the woman.

“Oh my, it is not often I see other humans in these parts! How do you do?” The forest witch asked.

“Oh yes! All the fantastic animals are just amazing. Sometimes I wish just for an hour I could be an animal too.” Annabelle replied with sparkling eyes.

The forest witch, who immediately took a liking to the intrepid young forest explorer, was inspired to grant Annabelle’s wish.

“If you could be animal, which one would you choose?” The forest witch asked.

“A bird of course! To soar the splendid skies! Nothing could be more fantastic.”

“If you would like, I could grant you your wish and turn you to a bird.”

“Oh yes! Please!”

With the flick of her wand, the forest witch transformed Annabelle into a robin as to grant Annabelle’s wish.

“Oh my!” Annabelle chirped, “I am a bird!”

“Only for an hour, so fly off! But before you depart, know that when you feel a tickle in your talons, the magic is beginning to ware off. At this point you must descend from your flight toward the safety of ground.”

Annabelle nodded her head solemnly in agreement and fluttered off into the sky. Flying was everything she had thought it would be and more. Annabelle was full of delight as she soared through the air. When she felt that tickle in her talons, she reluctantly descended back to the ground. Just as her talons hit the ground, she saw them transform into toes. Soon, Annabelle was back in her human form, but she would never forget the beauty of flight.

Becoming an animal made Annabelle want to continue expeireinceing life as an animal. So when she sees a group of chattering raccoons, she decides she wants to be more like them! She wants to fit in with these delightful little animasl. So she slips on a mask, fake ears and a fake tail.

The racoons are gathered in a flower field and Annabelle approaches them tentatively in her racoon outfit

“How do you do?” She says with a nervous smile.

“A human!” They say, immediately seeing through her disguise.

Annabelles heart sinks until the group of enthusiastic raccoons let out an applause and several hoots of “hip hip hooray” or “huzzah, huzzah!”

“We have always wanted to meet a human!” One of the raccoons said.

“Come with us, and let us have adventures together all afternoon” Another raccon said.

Annabelle blushed, feeling both bashful and pleased. “Why thank you,” She said, “I would be delighted to accompany you on adventures far and wide!”

All afternoon, Annabelle and the raccoons climbed trees, explored the woods and played whimsical raccoon games.

When Annabelle leaves the company of the racoons, her thoughts are still so occubied by the joys of rcoon play that she doesn’t pay proper attention to where she is going. Next thing she know, she is in the darkest corner of the woods. Carved into a bent tree dripping with sap were the words “Here be monsters.”

Annabelle had always been fascinated by monsters. She’d always wanted to meet one. She imagined having tea with bigfoot, or ridding upon the back of Nessie. When she was little and thought there were monsters under her bed or in her closet, she would ask them politely to come out and join her for a bed time story.

Annabelle descended further into the dark and colorful woods. She began to hear howling and roaring. “The monsters!” She thought. Suddenly, she was seized with nerves. She never expected that she would feel such unease at finally experiencing something she’d always wanted to experience: meeting a real life monster.

Then, she saw them! The monsters! They gathered together in the clearing. They rumbled and growled. When she listened closer, Annabelle realized they weren’t rumbling and growling so much as having a conversation, a deep conversation about the meaning of life. Annabelle was fascinated as she eavesdropped upon them. It seemed over all the monsters had an optimistic view on the meaning of life. After the meaning of life, the monsters moved onto a new topic: what happens after we die.

“We turn into birds.” One monster said.

“We’re transformed into stardust.” Another monster chimed in.

“We go to a magical place.” One last monster said.

“Ahem” Annabelle said and came from behind the tree.

All the monsters looked at her, surprised and fascinated at the small humanoid creature.

“I’m Annabelle. I’ve got all sorts of theories about this topic!”

“Why lets here them then.” One of the monster said.

Annabelle smiled, and began telling the monsters all her fantastic theories about life, death and the universe.

Annabelle leaves the monster’s villages and  wanders back toward the sunnier corner of the wood. She finds herself on the outskirts of the woods nearer to civilization. Now there are houses near the woods, but not long ago, there was once an orphanage of sad and lonely children. The children’s lives were bleak and consisted of dreary days of cleaning and crying. Slowly, they started to disappear. In the evening, they would all go to sleep together, but when they woke up, Greta’s bed would be empty, or underneath Martin’s blankets there would be blankets and not a boy. Eventually, the entire orphanage was completely empty. People living nearby marveled at the tragedy and wondered about the mystery, but the children were parentless, and the orphan keepers were merciless, so no one mourned for the children individually as little human beings.

But the children’s fate was not so bleak. The children had not perished, but instead had been spirited off to a better life by a pack of loving wolves. The wolves who lived in the woods nearby heard the cries of the children and could no longer bear the idea of the horrid life they lived. So the wolves snuck in to the orphanage, gently plucked the children up and took them to their wolf village.

The children grew up loved by their fur covered mothers and fathers. They frolicked with their fur covered siblings. They learned how to howl, how to frolic, how to appreciate the beauty of a butterfly or wildflower and how to survive with joy in the woods. So in the end, all the orphans were adopted and raised with love by their lupine families.

After visiting the children, the day started to melt into dusk. Annabelle thought the forest at night may become a spooky and unwelcome place, but she was wrong. Just as the last bit of light fizzled away, the night raven swooped into Annabelle’s life.

“The only thing I don’t like about night” Annabelle said to the raven who perched next to her with curious eyes, “Is the lack of brightness. I always miss light when it is not around.”

“I know just who you need to meet!” The night raven said.

Without much explanation, the raven swooped down and gently picked up Annabelle with his dark talons. Annabelle and the raven ascended into the sky, higher and higher and higher! The woods were beautiful from such a high distance. Everything that looked grand and foreboding was light and lovely.

A weird thing happened while Annabelle and the night raven left the forest. The further away they got from the woods, the brighter the sky got. Soon, Annabelle and the raven were in the presence of the star people. The stunning light the start people emitted turned everything into a bright glow.

Annabelle was absolutely dazzled by the star people. Not only was their bright glow startlingly beautiful, but they were kind and gentle. Annabelle was full of questions and she rattled them off to her star friends.

“What constellation are you part of?”

“Have you ever seen an alien?”

“Do you ever feel competitive with the sun about the amount of light you make?”

“What are you more afraid of, black holes or asteroids?”

“What’s the meaning of life?”

“Where’s the beginning of the universe?”

“Were you a star when the dinosaurs were around, and if so what did they look like?”

The star people never said a word and answered all of Annabelle’s questions with a gentle twinkling, but despite the lack of words, Annabelle seemed to get all the answer’s she needed.

After such a long day in the woods, Annabelle felt drowsy. The gray clouds above clumped together, rumbled and seeped with droplets. Annabelle just needed somewhere dry to take a nap. Just as she was bemoaning the lack of dry spots, she saw the opening to a cozy dwelling. It was the entrance to the cave. Annabelle tentatively walked into the cave. She heard the dripping of water, the flutter of bat wings and heavy breathing.

“Hello?” Annabelle said. She heard a muffled groan and yawn in response.

Annabelle walked toward where the voice came from and saw two bears, one with eyes shut the other with eyes slightly open. The open eyes were framed with long eyelashes that had sleep dust sprinkled in the lashes.

“All who enter the cave of slumber must rest their weary heads” The bear said.

“Oh, why thank you. That is just what I needed.” Annabelle said. She walked toward the bears and curled up, using their soft fur covered bodies as her pillows.

Soon, Annabelle fell asleep. She found herself transported to a magical land. She was inside one of the bears dreams. The things that bears dream about are wondrous! They dream about the underworld, parallel universes, elves and fairies, make believe cities inhabited by bears and traveling the cosmos. Annabelle followed along with the bears to all their magical places. The bears and Annabelle flew through the sky with lovely wings. But then the bears said, “Goodbye Annabelle!”

Annabelle said “goodbye bears” and started to fly in the opposite direction. She flew and flew until she was drawn to a grassy meadow. She landed and realized she was at the meadow near her house. As she walked, she could feel herself wake up. She walked and woke and walked and woke until she was fully awake. “I’m home.” She thought.

As Annabelle grew, eventually even becoming an old, old woman, she sometimes wondered if part of her was still in those woods sleeping in that cave with those bears having wondrous and beautiful dreams. It had been the most magical day of her life!