Oh, a story? Well, it’s not my usual manner of work, but I suppose I could think of something. Let me ponder the matter further, I’m sure I can recall something…

Ah, yes. This is a story about my dear friend, the Old Oak, and how she came to be. Now, this story, I swear upon my soul, is true. All the stories about her are true – how this is so, I cannot say, except that all stories about her are true. The Forest is, I think, a place where truth is many-faced. This is also a story about gods, and the birth of the forest, and about love. It’s not a good story if, on some level or another, it’s not about love.



Once upon a time, years and years ago, before there were years to count the time, or days – when all in the forest was a single expanse of color. We see that time, or that space, in our dreams sometimes; I know I do, at least, but I can’t speak for your dreams. It is blue and black and fades at the edges. It has no trees, no movement, no grass, no life. Back then, there were three gods – two gods, a red and a gold, who were really one god, and a green goddess. And they were all very dear friends. For them, the void was a great playground, because they had one another to lighten their loads. They had each other to play with, and all the raw stuff of the world, which they formed up like ephemeral castles of sand.

And then one day, the red god turned to her fellows and said, “we have such great fun in this world, but I believe we could have more fun.”

And the other two asked “How? How could we have more fun than we have now?

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You have found yourself daydreaming during the next few days. You imagine yourself in a wonderful forest, the sunlight piercing the canopy and illuminating the air with rays of light. You see specks of pollen float around aimlessly, and in the distance you see great deer enjoying the scenery and grazing without fear. You truly think that these visions are of the Endless Forest, as if it was a very real place.

That night, you fall asleep and dream once again of the same place. You find a waterfall, and taking a sip of the water from the pool below, you see yourself...as a doe. You never noticed you were walking on four legs, and this truly surprises you.

You then find yourself sitting on a fallen log, in your human body. The dreams hit you - they were from the doe whose spirit now fills you. You were seeing the world through her eyes.

You realize that you are in a similar place to the dreams you had seen. You see your deer nearby, and you hear the faint sound of water. Standing, you greet your friend, who bows and says, "Now that you have become one with the spirit of the doe, you will begin to feel the world around you much clearer. It is difficult for humans to listen to nature, as their heads are always cluttered with their daily lives. For deer and other animals, it is much different. We have few worries when we are connected to the land, and it is kind to us in return. When nature decides that it is time for us to die, we willingly accept our death and give ourselves back to her. And then, we are always given a choice...", they pause here.

"A choice?", you ask. The deer nods, they knew you would ask. "We are given the choice to have another life or to rest eternally.", they say, "Now you understand why I know so much about the humans from so long ago. I was there living alongside them."

You start to wonder about this yourself.

Do you have writers/art block? I came up with an idea that I know has been done before but thought would be great to do again.

For the writers - write a story told by your deer. It can be any kind of story, such as a legend, poem, myth, short story, and so on. While I'm not enforcing any 'rules' on this, I would prefer that your story isn't starring your own deer. It would be great if you can write the story about someone else's character. However, if you can't decide on anyone to write about, it can be about anonymous characters. I'll make a list of everyone's story on this page, and you can write multiple stories if you'd like.

For the artists - it would be great if you can do some artwork inspired by the stories. Multiple people can do artwork for one story, and I will display artworks done on this page too. Artworks can be any way you do them - sketches, digital work, photo manips, however you like.

Anyway, let me know if you decide to participate, and I'll post your links up here.