Alice in the Park – An Amazing Forest

It was a dense forest—so dense that it remained dark even during the day. Alice was struck by this shift in the forest’s mood—and in her own. The woods were both fairytale-like and dark. Everything here was shrouded in shadow, and everything was green—as if it were all a dream about a forest. “What a forest!” Alice thought, and nearly said it out loud—though it wouldn’t have mattered, as there was no one else around.

The trees towered upward like giants, completely obscuring the sky. They seemed to stretch so high—far beyond the reach of her vision—that they vanished into the heights. The ground was black and appeared to be exceptionally fertile, covered with massive tree trunks and thick, coarse grass. It was quite dark here, yet there was a path, and fortunately, enough light for Alice to see where to go: straight ahead.

“Straight ahead!” Alice said cheerfully, stepping deeper into the forest. Her intuition told her it would be a long walk.

As she strolled along, Alice began to feel as though she were slipping into a dream—a dream within a dream, which was itself inside yet another dream.

“What an intriguing thought!” she caught herself thinking.

“Can there be a dream inside a dream?” she wondered, though she kept the question to herself.

“It’s so dark here that it makes me want to sleep!” she concluded, finding this a most fascinating discovery.

She walked on, her feet pressing slowly into the black earth, which felt loose and damp—perhaps from a recent rain, or perhaps kept in that soft, friable state by some other means. Among the trees surrounding her, Alice recognized various conifers, including spruces, as well as other types of trees with towering trunks that reached so high she couldn’t see where they ended. There were pines, too—a sight that pleased her; it was comforting to encounter a familiar kind of tree after... How had she failed to realize just how high this forest reached?

She felt like a tiny ant in the grass, Alice thought to herself. It was, in truth, rather dark all around—yet light still managed to filter in from somewhere. One could make out the path, the trees, the tall grass, and the black earth.

The path ran perfectly straight. It was well-laid and stood out clearly against the tall grass. Beyond it, on either side, lay the tall grass, followed by trees. No trees grew on the path itself, which made the path especially valuable in this place. It was a long, clearly visible path—a good thing for Alice.

“The forest is amazing!” Alice exclaimed aloud, her voice full of wonder, confidence, and cheer. She rubbed her palms together, as if against the cold—though, in fact, it was quite warm. A light breeze stirred now and then, but otherwise, it was quiet and peaceful.

“One could easily fall asleep here!” Alice said with a smile.

“Fall asleep and never wake up”—everything here was just that tranquil.

Alice strode forward, her spirits high. The path was wide and straight, offering plenty of room to roam—provided, of course, that one didn’t drift off to sleep, lulled by the darkness and silence that permeated everything.