Tag Archives: fantasy

Thresholds and Covenants: A Journal Entry

“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”- William Faulkner

The forest is a keeper of thresholds. Rivers, crossroads, and moonlit glades are its well-known gateways, but hollow oaks- split by lightning and hollowed by time- are quieter, darker doors. I found it weeks ago, its trunk cracked like an ancient tome, its roots cradling secrets older than the village beyond the trees.

Inside, wrapped in linen the colour of a weathered bone, lay a blade. Not rusted, thought its edge was dull. Not ornate, though its hilt bore runes that prickled the skin like static. It hummed in my palm, a sound felt more than heard, as if vibrating in tune with the marrow of the world.

The Language of Unseen Things

Hollow trees are not mere shelters for owls or foxes. In Celtic lore, they are portals to the fairy realms. Offerings of milk or bread are left to appease their keepers, but this blade was no offering. It was a key. Or a lock. Or both.

The runes defied translation. Not like anything I have seen before- perhaps something older, something ties to the nameless things that walked the woods before the stones I stumble on were set in place. The blade’s purpose lingers just beyond reach, like a word forgotten mid-sentence.

Dreaming

The blade now rests on my desk, next to dried hawthorn and a jar of storm water. It hums at odd hours, a sound that slips into dreams. Last night I dreamt of a weaver that was not weaving, but instead unravelling. Threads snapped like sinew as she laughed.

I woke with dirt beneath my nails, the journals pages smudged with ink and a refrain echoing through my mind: not all doors should be opened. Coincidence? The forest does not deal in coincidence.

Reflections

I returned the blade to its oak today. Left it swaddled in fresh lines, a sprig of rue, and three drops of blood- an offering, apology, and plea. The wind hissed through the hollow but whether in acceptance or scorn, I cannot say.

The forest guards its thresholds jealously. Some secrets are not meant to be found. Some blades are not meant to be held.

First Light: A Journal Entry

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep” – Robert Frost

The Forest at Dawn

I woke to the sound of birdsong, their melodies weaving through the trees like threads of light. The forest was alive, breathing, stirring beneath the first rays of the sun. I don’t know how I came to be here, but the air feels different- thicker, somehow, as if it holds secrets just out of reach.

I walked for hours, my feet carrying me over moss-covered stones and through streams that glittered like liquid silver. The forest is vast, endless, and yet it feels familiar, as if I’ve walked these paths in dreams. There is a strange comfort in the unknown, a sense that I am exactly where I need to be, even if I don’t yet understand why.

The Language of the Land

The forest speaks in a language I am only beginning to understand. The rustle of leaves, the creak of branches, the distant call of a fox- it is a symphony, a story, a spell. I found myself stopping often, my hand resting on the rough bark of a tree, my eyes tracing the patterns of light and shadow on the forest floor.

I gathered a few things as I walked- a feather, a smooth stone, a sprig of a wild herb. They feel like gifts, tokens from the land itself. I don’t know what they mean yet, but I sense they are important, that they hold some kind of message or meaning.

A Strange Longing

There is a feeling I can’t quite name- a longing, or a pull, or a whisper at the back of my mind. It is as if I have forgotten something vital and that it sits just out of reach. The forest seems to know, though. It watches me with quiet patience, as though it is waiting for me to remember.

I sat by the stream for a long time, my fingers trailing in the cool water. The current carried leaves and twigs, and I wondered where they were going, what they would find. Perhaps I am like those leaves, carried by a current I cannot see, toward a destination I cannot yet imagine.

The forest is a mystery, but a friend. It does not give its secrets easily, but I sense that it is leading me somewhere… that it is showing me something I need to see.

I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but for now, I am content to wander, to listen, to learn. The forest is patient, and so am I.