Deep within the woods by Tesni Jones-Edwards

Deep within the woods there is a bridge with a river that lives outside the normal constraints of what we know. To reach it you must walk and you must walk with the life of the forest in your eyes and to do so you must listen.

One day a girl with a heart full of stones walked through the woods. She stumbled over the roots of trees that crawled from the ground and grabbed for her legs. She listened to the leaves as they whispered their secrets to the wind, sharing stories in a tongue she longed to know.

She listened and listened until the secrets of the woods ran in ripples through her veins and a single drop of blood could bloom a flower.

Only then did the bridge appear in front of her like a mirage, glistening in the sun beams that danced between the branches of trees.

Sinking to her knees, she let the river soak her jeans and pull at her hands as she listened to the trickle of memories that stole her breath.

A child with a smile gave the river a doll.
A man with no teeth gave the river his sorrows.
A girl with a heart full of stones gave the river her pain.
Shhhh. If you listen close you can still hear her aching breaths in the heart of

the woods floating amongst the trees.