Forest

I was born in a country where I can feel safe. I am born in a city where I know no fear, other than the fare of other childrens cruelty. I am born to a place some minutes away from civilization. I lean to love the silence and the isolation.

Our closest neighbor was the forest. Our house was not visible from the road. I can not call it a street, because it was a road made out of sand and dirt.

When we had heavy rains, we did not know if we had a road at all. The water it self could eat it up and we were stuck where we were. Icy cold winters the snow and the ice covered the roads, if there was nobody that took care of the snow or put sand on the ice, we had no choice but to stick to where we were.

I remember a time when we had to drive over a small piece of the road, because the water had eaten most of it. If we would have started a little bit later, there might not have been any road left and we would have had to postpone our trip.

I remember a time when we parked our car at the top of the road instead of driving it downhill, because the road was so slippery we did not know if we would be able to drive back up once we finally reach down, If we would even reach down without loosing control and end up in the forest.

I remember a time when we had a party in the middle of the winter. When it started to snow. And the snow fell and fell and fell. Some decided to go home earlier, and some stayed for longer. The ones that stayed for longer ended up staying the whole night. There was too much snow to even drive on the road.

I remember we having so big windows. Guests always asked if we were not scared. As if the windows themselves would be scary. What would we have to be scared of? Apart from the forest the neighbors sheep were our closest neighbor. We had  two families that were close neighbors. One about 500 meters away, the other one about 900 meters away. We knew them both very well, and they were noting to be afraid of.

We used to spend hours and hours in the forest, playing, running, climbing. If there is somewhere I feel safe, that is the forest.

I went for a walk during the week. From a friends place I drove to where I knew there is a path in the forest. I have never walked it before, and I wanted to check it out. My friend didn't understand. Am I going there alone?

As I am in the forest a friend send me a message, we chat for a while. I tell him I am at the forest. He ask me with who. I answer I am alone. He ask me if it is safe?

I do not even need to stop and look around. I am alone in the forest. What is there to be afraid of? I have the knowledge to have respect for snakes. It is a kind of forest where I can always hear the sound of the cars driving on the nearby road, so there will be no animals to disturb me. Not that we have that dangerous animals here anyway.

The most dangerous are the small ones. Too small for me to even see on its own in the forest. The kind that will come on my body and press their head inside my skin and suck my blood. Why is that one dangerous? It is not dangerous by itself, but it can carry diseases that can be transferred to me. Diseases that uneaten can kill me. But these kind of small ticks are not only to be found in the forest, but everywhere were is grass.

So, in the forest, I feel safe. Even though I would prefer a forest where I can not hear the cars. A forest that when I walk, my only fear would be that I would get lost.