Amongst those who have visited, the Forest is known for two things. The first is, quite naturally, its trees, which create a delightful golden mist in Autumn, and hence, how the Forest came to get its name. The second is a bit more bewildering, however, as mysterious things happen there. The day Wanda arrived was no exception. Wanda remembered Hannah the Gatekeeper greeting her.
“Good-day and welcome, Wanda! We have been expecting you. Lamina dropped by this morning and said that you would be arriving, so your cottage is already ready.”
“Who’s Lamina?” Wanda asked.
“Who’s Lamina? Oh, my dear, Lamina is simply glorious!" Hannah seemed genuinely delighted. "She has a special gift, you see, as she creates creatures out of mere mortals.” Hannah giggled. “Isn’t that simply divine!”
With peculiar synchronicity and just as they neared the small cottage, two toads, a snake, and an elephant crossed directly in front of the pair. As if explaining their presence, Hannah added, “But these are not just any bodies, you see, as these are all your ex-lovers apparently, and oh my!" Hannah winked at Wanda: “how lovely - I can see you’re particularly fond of toads!”
Hannah opened the cottage door, “Anyway, here we are. Dinner will be ready at six. Just shout if you need anything. One of us is never far away,” and Hannah was off, hurrying back to keep the gate.
As Wanda was unpacking her suitcase, one of the toads hopped up onto the window ledge, and let out a satisfying burp before his baritone boomed around the cottage:
“Wanda wonders every day, which is going to be the right way, but if Wanda would wonder about it no more, she would find her destined path for sure.”
With that, the toad jumped off the ledge into the reeds of the nearby stream. Wanda wrote the words in her journal and headed out the door.
After walking through the dense woodland for some time, Wanda came across a small clearing where the sun shone brightly, so she sat down on a nearby log. She leaned back and closed her eyes, letting the sun soak into her skin.
Wanda had just noticed colours dancing across her eyelids, when she heard a subtle “Shhhhish” float across the air. She slowly opened her eyes and, quite fearlessly, turned towards the puffadder, sharing the same sun-bleached log.
He seemed to smile through his forked whisper. “Wanda wonders where she should begin, but it’s simply that she must shed her skin; the words will come out of her heart, if only she would make a start!” Wanda took off her sweater and again wrote the words in her journal.
A little later, sweating now from a steady climb, Wanda was drawn towards the sound of water. She soon reached another stream, in which she dipped her toes, but shivered with its chilling ache. A more warty toad appeared this time, which Wanda instantly recognised as William.
“Wanda wonders whether she should dip, not realising that she should take a sip; take some nourishment from the spring, and see what joy your words will bring!”
Wanda again wrote in her journal, before she cupped her hands and lifted the elixir to her lips.
Following the stream, Wanda soon reached the Place of Falling Water, where she could at last see the forest stretched out below her. On the opposite bank, there was an elephant with magnificent African ears. He trumpeted across the rumbling. “Wanda wanders through this land, but only now is she starting to understand, Egoli has its many riches, in the way it weaves and stitches, hardly ever in straight lines, but always changing with the times. Listen Wanda to the Egoli drums, and always remember to write what comes; let the Forest be your presage, that the words you write will carry their message!” Looking down over the Forest, at the Place of Falling Water, Wanda again wrote in her journal. She started, “The Fortunate Ones.”
