Once upon a time, a long, long way away, a woman walks through a small forest. Trees twist skyward from the rich, dark earth all around her, their leaves moving in the breeze.

Presently the woman sits down to rest with her back against a trunk, and closes her eyes. As the years fall by about her, she begins to hear the noises of the forest more clearly - the bird's wings beating against the warm, still air and the noises of small creatures scurrying to and fro in the grasses on the forest floor. She feels a drowsiness that is neither pleasant or restful, and try as she might, she cannot rouse herself back to wakefulness.

She drifts towards her dream.

She is still in the forest, but it has grown dark and strange in her dream. She hears a voice - a woman is calling a man's name. She can see the woman now, still calling out. She feels an unfathomable sadness pass over her as the woman draws nearer. She realises she can hear and see the woman's thoughts, but the woman doesn't even seem to notice she's sitting there, and carries on calling.

It was here she had met the man whose name she calls. Here in the small forest near to the sea. He had been collecting firewood and noticed her walking by. He spoke and she replied - recognising him as a visitor to the place she worked in the nearby town.

From that time on she began to notice his regular visits to the town and the place where she worked. He spoke whenever he saw her, and little by little, he learned about her. What she liked doing when she wasn't working; what she was good at, and what she could help him with.

One day he sent her a message - Hello Ally, she read, I need your help with something - and there was his puzzle laid out before her. It seemed he understood her well enough to know how much she would enjoy helping him. She gave much thought to this, and after a time, sent her reply. He was grateful and thanked her for her help. This contact continued for a while, and then he went away, telling her he would be back from time to time through the winter. His leaving saddened her, but she knew he would return in the spring.

Time passed, and the place she worked at closed. A short time later the man returned to the town and she saw him there again. They spoke breifly, but she was troubled by how pale and drawn he looked. She said nothing about this, but wondered later what might be ailing him.

The next day, she received a message telling her the man was dead - he had taken his own life.

The seated woman wakens from her dream, but neither stirs nor calls out. She can no longer see or hear the other woman, but still she feels her sadness as it seeps through the forest with the sunlight and the birdsong.








For Mike