The path before Andy was hushed, blanketed in silver mist. Trees stood still as statues, their branches heavy with silence. Even the wind seemed afraid to breathe. Andy hesitated at the edge of the forest, heart thudding like a drum echoing into emptiness. The stories had said this was a sleeping forest—a place that had forgotten how to live.
With one trembling inhale, Andy took a step forward. The sound of his boot on damp leaves stirred the air. A low hum rose, faint as a sigh. The moss underfoot glowed softly, emerald veins pulsing like heartbeat. Andy blinked in wonder and took another step.
This time, a vine uncoiled from a nearby trunk, stretching toward the light. Tiny blossoms bloomed where Andy’s shadow touched the earth—violet, gold, and rose. The scent of dew and cedar filled the air. Somewhere above, a single note rang out—a bird’s uncertain song, testing the morning.
Andy smiled. “It’s waking up,” they whispered.
The deeper Andy went, the more alive it became. The fog lifted in ribbons. Ferns unfolded, each frond shivering in delight. Streams gurgled awake, tracing laughter through the roots. Trees began to sway, their bark glistening with amber tears of sap. Every sound seemed to answer another—like an orchestra remembering its cue.
Still, a great oak loomed ahead, dark and unmoving. Andy paused. Fear fluttered again, fragile as a moth’s wing. But then he reached out, pressing a hand to its cold bark. “Wake up,” Andy said softly.
A tremor ran through the ground. The oak shuddered from root to crown, its branches stretching wide. A thousand leaves rustled, catching sunlight for the first time in ages. The forest erupted in light—fireflies, petals, laughter of unseen creatures.
A breeze swept through, carrying the music of every living thing—the chirp of thrushes, the murmur of rivers, the heartbeat of the earth itself.
Andy stood in the center, surrounded by color and sound, the sleeping forest now a radiant symphony. He realized then: courage wasn’t the absence of fear—it was the spark that awakened the world.
And as Andy took another step, the forest sang.