The Forest

It was nighttime. The rainforest was as tranquil as the summertime breeze; hardly a whisper was heard. Most animals slept, hidden either in the undergrowth or as shadows in the trees. Others, those who had acted the same ever since they were born, stayed awake. They crept around the trunks of the trees, making barely any disturbance in the still air. The forest was as it always had been.
Every now and then, the hooting of a bird or the impatient howl of a maternal animal was heard, but these were natural sounds. A glimmer of moonlight reflected off animals’ eyes or a swift figure gliding overhead was seen, but these sights did not distract from the overwhelming, breath-taking beauty of the forest all around. The heady, lush aroma of healthy greenery, and the damp, lingering odour of water, sometimes from a small stream drifting leisurely between the various crevices and potholes on the ground, could be smelt all around – but these scents added to the sense that this place was magical, and untouched by the actions of the modern day. The forest was as it always had been.
But nothing stays the same forever.
Man came, with their technology. The loud, yet somehow peaceful sounds of the rainforest were unheard over the din of the machinery. Trees fell, knocking into other trees, shocking the surroundings to the core. The landscape changed gradually, as all landmarks disappeared, loaded onto trucks to serve as furniture or various other things to make life easier for man. The land would then be cleared with fire, so that it could be built on. Animals fled to the far reaches of the forest, hoping to avoid the merciless blades of the man-made saws.
Miles away, in a town that knew nothing of the wildlife destroyed due to their decisions, it was decided that the forest would be left alone for now. It was a sort of kindness – not completely selfless, but it showed some sympathy for the animals that had prospered there for thousands of years, before man’s intervention.
Slowly, the animals returned to the routine they had kept for many generations. They fed, slept and played as they always had. They scurried around, carefree, travelling quickly through the close trees. But the forest had changed. There was a constant threat of trees being cut down again by the men who claimed they owned the land, yet had no respect for its current inhabitants. Thousands of plants and animals had been killed, for wood to be shipped abroad – things that could not possibly benefit the animals.
The forest would never be the same again.