The Beast in the Wood
Once upon a time, there was a boy and a girl, deep in the forest, who happened to see a great beast who’s hairy feet took large strides past the green trees. When they saw the beast, they screamed in horror, and scurried home, and told stories of their encounter.
The leaders of the young children’s town indeed took note, for they hunted the beast in the wood, and though they could not find him, they found odd tracings of a large, hairy beast all ‘round the children’s nighttime fire.
A second sighting of the beast made the town even more anxious, so huntsmen ventured in with weapons, trying to kill the beast, yet he still could not be found.
And now when little Suzy went missing, the Sergeant of Brunsville, and his whole town swept the wood, but never found little Suzy, nor the beast of the wood, and Sgt. Hagry was sure the blame laid with the Beast. Now there is more to this Beast than the scary tales that have been told ‘round the wood. He was in fact a savage animal, turned beast, who is rarely seen, a wanderer. He walks on two legs and stands tall above most men. His arms hang low to the ground, and his feet are very large, and, besides his face, they are the only thing that isn’t covered in smooth, brown hair.
And the savage became aware.
“What’s growing?” The animal said, who spoke like a man. “What’s growing!?” He said again as he beheld for the first time the plants and wildlife that surrounded him, and his brown hair rose from his leather skin.
The forest emanated, “What secrets do the magic trees, flowers, and weeds hold for you?”
And the transformed Beast let go of the powerful tree, and stumbled to the ground. He opened his eyes, and let in the magic of the wood.
The Beast could now see the physical and energetic health of the wood, and began to cultivate it. He held flowers and weeds, and opened his heart to the wood. He spent all his time outdoors, and connected with the forest below his feet and gave thanks to Nature’s energy.
“Ahhrrrggghhhhhh!!!!”, the Beast yelled, and a magic portal opened. He looked through it, curious and cautious. He could see his own back, thick with brown hair. He turned to see what lay opposite him, where the portal might be, for he may jump through, but in the night it vanished into nothing.
“We will all attest to your power, Beast,” Sgt. Hagry spoke to the magic wood, as he picked up the ripped clothes of little Suzy. And he lit a fire, and burned her garments as the dusk turned to night, deep in the woods.
“This is my home,” mumbled the Beast, to the forest.
The Beast took it upon himself to decorate his forest findings with floral arrangements, wreaths, and natural terrarium representations of nature, which so many huntsmen misunderstood. He ate magical fruits, herbal plants, and brewed prawna tea from bushes, and often left behind his half-full cup, so that others may find the the illuminating energy of the wood.
Confident and independent, the Beast learned to arrange the wood as a work of art, each one with emerging and ruling stems, before he could be seen, to help the men who hunt him access the truth.
“My mooooon!” He yelled into the air one night, cutting through the nighttime glow. And he danced the waning moon, his one love. Feminine, receptive, and in harmony with the darkness, the Beast of the wood ebbed and flowed as doves flew away in horror.
The Beast learned to give back to Nature. He tended her plants and felt her presence, and how they reciprocate. On several occasions, the Beast was met with fear, and so he also learned himself a Beast. He took fear as an invitation to cultivate. Deep down, he wanted the visitors of the wood to feel resonant and joyful. Many children found tools, crystals, mixing bowls, incense, and burning tealight candles in vases; these were left by the Beast.
“Tender of the wood, I am the creator of my life.” He reflected to himself, deep in the wood.
Later, Sgt. Hagry fired at him, and the Beast took his famed scorn on - Introspective, yet he struck fear in all those who were aware of him. Now everywhere he went, he knew that he was to be a lone-soul, hunted down.
“The Beast of the wood is a killer, who devoured the famous nymph Yarrow, who was believed to have the magic ability to heal the wounds of the dying or injured. It for that reason why we see traces of medicinal plants at the sight of so many slaughterings of the Beast.” Said Sgt. Hagry to a group of searchers, and huntsmen.
“Here we have a report of the Beast of the wood, from the Oak of Truth,” and Sgt. Hagry read aloud:
The Wild Beast
Child
of a Animal
Alone
Hungry
Wild
The animal
blind
and the plant
unknown to it.
Yet
The doves,
the turtles,
the children,
In truth fear
for
The wild has
to survive.
And soon
The wood
and even
the plant
with its magic
fear
the wild
Together
they
change him
And
the Beast has
to survive
And now,
many
animal,
children,
men
are changed.
The Beast
devouring
again
and
again
And leaving
children
In horror
and pieces.
And the Beast
Survived
all huntsmen
for the Beast
and
those plants
which he devoured
and the children
who had
travelled to
greater lands
are one.
“The town of Brunsville is devoting its resources to establish a permanent, yes permanent, watch for this Beast, to stop him from ‘devouring’ our loved youth,” stated Sgt. Hagry to the group of huntsmen, parents, and searchers.
“A reward is offered for any information, and the town of Brunsville encourages parents to report their losses to this watch, also for a reward.”
And so, a great reward is offered for this Beast of the Wild, and the people of Brunsville still live in horror at the sight of trailings deep in the wood.