We wandered in the deepest parts of the woods. The parts where the trees are as old as the earth they feed upon. Eventually, we stumbled upon a clearing in the center of which stood an ancient oak. We later learned that the clearing was not pinned down to any one part of the forest, and that there was no fixed path to reach it... in fact, to find a path, one must follow a pure heart (preferably one’s own, but those of penguins will apparently do).
As the penguins pranced and danced their interpretive dances, they ate one out of every two mushrooms they were picking for our dinner. Meanwhile, I chose to inspect the great oak.
It was a magnificent tree reaching high into the sky with innumerable thick leafy arms. Its trunk’s diameter was incredible... it took me a full five minute’s to walk around it. And the whole was balanced in perfect asymmetry giving an impression of unimaginable age and beauty.
I climbed up the tree to nap while the penguins pretended to pick dinner... but as I was about to grab the first branch I noticed something.
“Attend to me, my friends!” I called out to the penguins. Startled, they turned their heads abruptly and choked on the mushrooms they were pigging out on. After recovering, they walked over and querulously asked “Whats-Ya-Problem! Shoutin’ alla sudden like that! What? What is it?”
So I showed them what I had found. The lines and creases in the tree’s bark formed an image!
An eye-poppingly beautiful image of a huntress opening large wooden double doors to an old castle nestled deep within the heart of the forest.
I was amazed by the exquisite detail of the picture, perhaps even more amazed and by the fact that it seemed completely natural, no knife marks or anything! It was as if the image had naturally occurred in the tree’s bark!
Meanwhile the penguins, having lost patience, pushed me aside to inspect the image in detail... the moment they touched the picture we were all transported into the entrance hall of the depicted castle!
We were quite happy to have finally found our destination!
Though a bit disappointed to find the place deserted and empty. Had been for ages it seemed.
We decided to move in and to make the magical place our home.
The penguins flew off to gather their relatives.
Soon there would be penguins everywhere.
The forest was quiet and then came,
Guu!
Oh, this made me smile and laugh inside. I was right with you. If I could paint, I would illustrate and read it to all the precocious children in my life. Fat, flying, dancing, mushroom-eating, ghetto-talking, particular penguins! I hope you enjoyed that because I did.
ReplyDeleteYou had me at purple Mohawks and ray bans, but you lost me at Guu. Whaah? Guu, Toronto? Guu Vancouver? Guu, the Japanese anime character?
Glad you enjoyed it. I think you're the first to do so.
ReplyDeleteThe third is the right Guu... And also the name of my cat. It's a story about a peaceful jungle village that completely changes when a the single mother of a young boy comes home from a drinking spree one night with what seems to be a little girl that she "just picked up on the way home, isn't she cute?" Of course, Guu isn't a normal little girl, after watching the entire series, I'm still not entirely sure what she is... e.g. She can swallow anything, at one point she swallows the whole world, and yet is also present with everyone in one of the strange worlds inside her body. Essentially she is depicted as omnipotent. To everyone but the mother's boy she appears to be a charming little girl, but when no one but he is looking she changes character completely. It's a very silly anime.
The title in Japanese was "Junguru was itsumo, hare nochi Guu" in other words (literally) "the jungle was quiet, then Hare met Guu". But it was officially translated as "The jungle was quiet, then came Guu"
Sorry you couldn't get that. It was somewhat of a wink to my significant other who lists it as a favourite. In this case, the penguins are Guu.
What a great story! I would have never thoughts of penguins and mushrooms going together! Did you see the picture first and then come up with the story, or did you write the story and then find the picture?
ReplyDeletePenguins in the forest? Magic mushrooms will do that to you. Tried them once...got nothing! Lovely story.
ReplyDeleteThanks Aubrie... Well, these clearly aren't ordinary penguins. But truth be told, land penguins will eat anything. Mushrooms came to mind because of a hilarious comic strip... "Gon" by Masashi Tanaka. It's an absurd "silent" manga that just keeps me in stitches. Story of a tough yellow dwarf tyrannosaurus who somehow survives the extinction of the dinosaurs and his adventures amongst paleolithic mammals. Nothing to do with this story except that when I think about randomly scarfing mushrooms it reminds me of a chapter in which Gon and all the creatures of the forest get together, and devour everymushroom they can find... and get very high.
ReplyDeletePictures are almost always come as afterthoughts. 3am, ok I can finally post this... 3.05 Image.. Image.. yeah that'll do. 3.06 text+ image online 3.07 Asleep.
Thanks Annie (may I call you that? It's a bit more wieldly than Wine and words)... Have you tried Chanterelle mushrooms? Their magic hardly ever fails... Seared with a bit of garic and then caressed with a dollop of fresh french cream? Or spiced, seared, and then déglacé with a dash of dry red wine?
How did the penguins fly? Did they take Air France? Could they get back, what with the volcano and all?
ReplyDeleteI thought you meant Guu the chocolate dessert, glad I've sorted that out.
ReplyDeletegreat, wild post
Hello Olli, and welcome.
ReplyDeleteThey're land penguins, they flew by their own power of course. Heheh. About the volcano... Yes, they have a secret that always allows them to get back: one the trio is called Jojo, and he always gets back to where he belongs.
Aloha Lulu. Nah if it were Gü desserts, then the land penguins would have devoured them down to the last scrap... and then the forest would be quiet. Did you know that Gü had a little sister called Frü? Fruit based desserts.
Yes, Annie please. Makes us more friendly :)
ReplyDeleteDid you find the tree when you wrote the story or the other way around?
ReplyDeleteThe penguins are such a contract to what I normally picture as forest dwellers. Whimsical tale.
You mean the picture? I almost always get the pictures at the last minute after everything else is done with. I just spend a few minutes going through my own archives or the net when I'm ready to post.
ReplyDeleteIf you mean the idea, magic trees are a standard trope in fantasy. It was just a convenient place for them to go.
About penguins... It seems so. I had no idea they were so popular. I originally went with penguins because they are hardly ever seen in fantasy... And then they became semi recurring characters in my stories.