Lost in the Forest Hanna Shim
Lost in a Forest Hanna Shim
From sometime ago I have been here. How long or where from I am unable to know.
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Only by instinct I am walking through this lush forest yet to be familiarised without knowing why.
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I see plants. I see insects among them. At times, I stare at them carelessly. And then carefully. As I focus deeply on each individual leaf veins, It takes up all the dominance of the world as if nothing else matters.
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The sound of insects is soft. The sound of insects is loud.
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Though I stop here and there to look around, I not yet perceive where this is, but only feel a sense of newness wevery time I step each foot forward.
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As I walk in a hurriedly pace, I see a butterfly flying by. I stop to see the butterfly flutter. “I wish I had wings like you so I could fly”, I say. “There was a time I used to be down there as well”, the butterfly answers. It lands on the tip of my head, and then flutters away.
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For a moment, I gaze after the butterfly distancing And soon begin to move on.
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Not too far from running, I find an empty chair and halt Huffing to catch my breath. ‘Should I rest for a bit?’ ‘I think I should.’
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I look up to the sky as I sit down. The sky darkens, The silence creates stillness. ‘Better get going before it gets too dark.’ Unable to stay long, I dust myself off And continue to walk.
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A back of a figure walking ahead comes into sight. I quicken my step to catch his pace.
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“Do you know where we are?” “I’m not sure either” “…this is the right way, right?” “Can’t say” Silence follows and we walk side by side. The man walks a little slower than me.
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“Nice meeting you...” I continue walking at my normal pace. “What’s the rush?” I hear a voice behind me, “You should enjoy the beauty of the birds and flowers around you.”
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I turn around to catch his eye and then continue to walk forward. I see his small figure far in the distance. As I walk farther, he is no longer to be seen.
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‘...where does this road end?’
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Crackle.
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I feel chilly ambience rushing up my back. Soon a great dark shadow casts. I turn around to see a big tiger watching me. I fall to the ground, surprised.
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‘Should I pretend to be dead?’ ‘Am I going to die?’ I close my eyes with a million thoughts jumbled in my head.”
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The tiger lures at me for a while, but soon after his body turns towards the forest and disappears. Too frightened to move, I remain still. The tiger never returns.
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The tension softens in my body and I just lay there. I see the sky seeping between the tall grass. I hear the cloud drifting, sound of insects, the leaves and the forest.
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A butterfly flutters by. “I’ve come this far” Unknowing if it had heard me or not, the butterfly flies away. ‘Just a little longer like this.’ I stay laying there for a while.
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Hanna Shim 2017
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