The Forest of Whispers was now closely watching the group which had trespassed his territory. He had seen them since their birth and had known their forefathers too. He swept the leaves of his trees, murmuring an apology to their ancestors. For, he could not whisper the right path to their descendants who seemed so lost in his deep, dark realm.
Their so-called leader Lucy had recklessly led the other six here, for finding those peach trees which was like a sort of rural legend in their parts. And now, Lucy’s pride was stunting her from accepting the fact that they were lost. Instead, her authoritative, “This way girls, follow me!” was dragging them even deeper into this realm of darkness.
Earlier, Amelia, had bragged to others,” I will sell the peaches in the village fair and use my earning to buy myself a new pair of shoes.” Her greed for collecting new shoes was well known amongst her friends.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s volatile temper was farther damaging the moral of the group. These aimless wanderings had irked her more than anyone else .No, she didn’t want those peaches anymore. She wanted to go home, plain and simple. It became obvious that she had lost it when she shouted with exasperation, “I want you all dead!”
Catherine, the dark eyed beauty, had followed the others lest she might lose the opportunity of meeting a tall, dark prince who might me passing by these woods, as it often happened in her granny’s romantic tales. She enviously muttered to herself, “He must see me first…I will not let others to steal my prince.”
Mary, too, like her companions, had an agenda of her own. She wanted to cross the forest to meet Arnold, who lived at a village on the other side. Though he had quite a reputation with girls, her lust had blinded her rationality. She told herself, “He loves me more than anything else…the way he touches me tells it all.”
For Isabel, the very word ‘food’-any category of food could spring her into action. She was already imagining peaches everywhere. The others, much to their irritation, noticed her occasionally munching the hays, which she was carrying at hand. “The peaches will be sweet and will taste like heaven”, Isabel was found muttering those words from time to time.
Joanna had a different story altogether. She had consciously nurtured slothright from her childhood.She looked despaired as she couldn’t lazily while away this time in her bed. She sounded almost desperate to Mary when she proposed, “Don’t you think that we should take a nap before continuing our search?”
Legend had it that the Forest of Whispers had pointed the peach trees to some, who could win his appreciation by their strength of character. The rest, like the present group, kept getting lost in the quagmire of darkness while searching an illusion.
***
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This is an entry for Five00-9, #Vintage. Find all the entries here: https://writers.artoonsinn.com/category/five00/five00-9/
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