The Writing-Practice Journal

The Enchanted Forest

October 19-CONTEST ROUND: Setting Description
Describe a setting in words. Use all five senses and make your reader experience the setting as if he or she were there.

The Enchanted Forest

In the distance, the mountain was covered by a dense, heavy fog that would possibly break into heavy rain soon and torrents would pour down the mountainside into the river with a cackling sound as if making fun of the land. For the six trekkers, it hadn’t been too difficult to reach the dense bushes before the forest, even though they felt light-headed and their skins itched.

They sat down to rest on the wet moss among the bushes scented with crushed minty ferns and debated among themselves whether to venture further into the indistinct, forbidding forest where the birch woods and the pine woods gave way to deep dark and lofty trees with enormous leaves of hunter-green and scaly thick barks. There, edible sweet young shoots, baby mushrooms with healing qualities, and birds’ nests full of warm eggs could ease their hunger.

Just when they were savoring the sweet and sour tastes of different berries from the bushes, a deer manifested itself out of thin air and came galloping past the six people. As it ran it looked back over its shoulder at the larger beast running after it. Other smaller beasts followed. They were all in a hurry. Even the black bears were escaping into their dens.

“What is happening?” Myrtle May exclaimed. The others were just as puzzled, but before they could offer an opinion, a low sound emanated from the ground, which they felt in their hands and knees as some sort of a vibration. That sound turned into a continuous hum and rose and fell in pitch together with the trees and the wind.

“It is the wind singing,” murmured Neema.

“No,” said Andy. “Look!”

Tiny sparks of light, more like fire, flickered about them. Then, a smoky mist filled their lungs, making them cough and choke. Sure enough, a dragon appeared, puffing and rattling rapid-fire through its nostrils. The creature was massive but absolutely stunning. Its powerful wing muscles fit snugly on broad shoulders, and it ran, waving its wings that were adorned with silver and mother-of-pearl scales that dipped into thalo green and copper-red tips. Its crystalline eyes were glowing, insect-like; however, they weren’t looking at anything else but up at the tops of the gigantic forest trees yonder.

A brilliant light flashed and glowed beyond where the travelers could see, and a great crackling sound, as if a hundred twigs were breaking, filled their environs. The dragon had just taken flight over them and soared away into the forest.

“Are we still going into that forest?” Adrienne Colvin asked in disbelief.

“Why not?” Fritz grinned. “You can’t really believe what you can see with your eyes in these parts of the world.”