The Story of the Forest Pond, or a Swimming Pool for Elves in the Middle of the Forest

You have to walk up and down the hills between the trees, there are trees fallen by the storm everywhere. Eventually, they decay and become part of the humus and soil needed for new young trees to grow. Mushrooms grow in various corners, under roots, under fallen trees. And there are springs everywhere. Water flows out of the ground, as is common in the Lužické Mountains. And so, after the rain, you can often find various forest ponds in the woods.

A couple of years ago, we found an interesting natural phenomenon at one of these places. We were walking through the forest, looking under the branches, searching for mushrooms. Everywhere, small streams babbled, bubbled, and emerged from the earth. And suddenly, something strange caught my eye. In the middle of the forest, I saw a bath. Not one of those we have at home, but a forest bath. In the middle of the forest, I saw a rectangular shape on the ground, full of clear, dark, rusty water. I stared at it, wondering who could have dug this, in such a regular shape.

At first, I thought wild boars were responsible for it, digging for fallen acorns, beechnuts, or fresh roots. Something to eat. There are plenty of wild boars in the forest, after all. But if they had done it, it would be all torn up, and I can’t imagine a wild sow suddenly thinking, "Today, I’ll dig a perfectly rectangular hole, hmm, oink, oink, this will be better." So that can’t be it.

Then I thought, maybe some mushroom pickers made it. When they couldn’t find anything, they decided to dig this pond. And if they had a kid with them, maybe they even built a little swimming pool out of sticks, bushes, and moss. Well, that didn’t seem likely either. So I came to the only possible conclusion: it’s definitely an elf swimming pool, like a pool for elves. What do you think? Let’s have some fun with this idea and come up with a forest story, let’s be children again, even if just for a moment.

The Tale of the Forest Pond with Magical Water

In every forest, there are many different forest creatures. We all know them—deer, does, stags, owls, jays, hedgehogs, foxes, and others. Usually, we don’t see them because they’re afraid of humans and keep their distance. But if we behave quietly in the forest, we might catch a glimpse of something hidden from our sight. Maybe we’ll even see a magical being. Don’t you think so? Oh, come on, let’s turn off our inner adult for a moment. Get rid of the thoughts about work and everything you need to do today. Ready? Then let’s dive back in.

“Hello, Francis,” says Niko the bukluk, greeting his elf friend, who’s currently on duty by a newly awakened spring. The little spring pushed its way to the surface last week, and now it’s trying to carve its path through the pine needles. Beechboy, who discovered it, is keeping watch. “How’s it going?”

“Oh, the spring is still too weak, so I have to clear its path through the needles, or it’ll just disappear back into the ground, and I’d be in trouble. Everyone would say I lost the spring. Ha ha ha, lost Beechboy,” Francis says, using his little fingers to dig the path for the newborn spring.

“Have you named it yet, the spring?”

“No, not yet, Niko, but since it doesn’t want to come out of its underground safe haven, I’ll probably call it either Snail or Bojsa,” says Francis. And so, both Beechboys watch the new spring as it bubbles up and slowly flows a bit more.

“Hey, Francis, have you ever heard of the Spring of Oblivion?”

“Of course, who hasn’t? Jane scared me with it last Sunday when I finished off all her raspberry jam in the tree,” he chuckles. He tells Niko how Jane chased him around the roots of her young beech tree, finally driving him to a rock under the slope where she gave him a good thrashing with a sloe brush. “She’s a gentle little one, but when it comes to her raspberry jam, she’s ruthless. But she is so sweet, I mean, the jam, of course,”  Francis blushes.

What do you think happened next? The two mischievous Beechboys looked at F Francis’ little spring, which had started flowing more. Francis quickly decided that it was flowing well enough now, and his job was done. No longer needing to stay and help the spring, he renamed it "Nebojsa" and, with Niko, dashed like squirrels toward the base of the hill where they knew the Spring of Oblivion flowed. They raced, laughing and bumping through the grass, dodging mushrooms that got in their way. “Oops, sorry, sir, sorry, ma’am!” they shouted, as they zoomed through the mushroom living room of Mr. Worm, who was resting in a nice big mushroom, not expecting to be disturbed by a couple of dirty Beechboys.

When they reached the top of the hill, out of breath like a snail who’d just done twenty squats and forgot it had no legs, Francis pointed at the strong bubbling spring.

“Hey, Niko, is that it?”

“Yep, that’s the Spring of Oblivion. You’ve never been here before?”

“No, Jane always told me not to come, that I’d fall in and forget why I even fell in,” says Francis, dipping his fingers in the water.

And as Niko sees Francis dipping his fingers in the spring, he jumps in up to his knees and starts splashing around. He keeps repeating, “My name’s Niko, I’m Niko, Niko, Niko.” “Hey, Francis, I don’t think the forgetting part of the spring works. I still remember my name. I think others just made up that story to keep the spring all to themselves,” says Niko, sipping from the spring. And just like that, he jumps in completely, his clothes and hat forgotten, splashing happily.

“Hey, Francis, let’s make our own little pond and swim in it, and we won’t tell anyone, okay? It’ll be our secret.”

What would you expect to happen next? The two Beechboys took a fallen branch from a spruce and started digging a pond. Since they were handy and unafraid of work, they had it dug by the evening. They made sure it was a nice, regular shape. They worked hard on it, thinking if they were going to put in the effort, it should be worth it. They even made steps and a diving board to enjoy it. They diverted the Spring of Oblivion for a moment, filling their pond to the brim. With a high five, they jumped in, swimming and splashing to their heart’s content.

When they were tired and wet, sitting at the edge of their pond, which they started calling a Splash because of all the splashing, they looked at each other and one said, “Hey, who are you actually? And… do you know what my name is?”

“I don’t know, I’m… well, actually, I don’t know my name either…”

“What are we doing here?”

“Probably guarding this pond.”

“Hmm, I guess so, that makes sense.”

You probably guessed it. The two mischievous Beechboys had stayed in the Spring of Oblivion`s water too long, drinking too much of its magic. When that happens, you forget who you are and why you’re there. Oops!

When the two Beechboys didn’t return, Jane and the Old Oak Lady went to find them. They found them at dawn, after searching all night, by the Spring of Oblivion, playing in the new pond, not knowing who they were.

“They are like toads, look at them. I’d leave them here as punishment forever. They’re playing in The Oblivion and meanwhile, Francis’ spring could dry up. I’d give them a piece of my mind,” grumbled Jane, exhausted from the whole night’s search and her eyes swollen from staring at her firefly lantern.

“Let them be. Sometimes it’s good to forget. To clear your head and just live peacefully,” said wise Old Oak Lady calmly.

“We’ll wake them up tonight. It’s fun to watch them,” she smiled, sitting next to Jane in the grass, observing the two Beechboys. She remembered a time when she played like that with her brother, whom she had lost long ago. But that’s another story…

You Can Have Your Own Forgetfulness Spring

So, what do you think? Wouldn’t it be nice to swim in or at least drink from such a magical forest spring, to forget for a while about the world around you, the worries, the chaos? Go ahead, find your own pond, jump in a stream or creek nearby, and create its magical power. Splash your feet in a pond. Start imagining your own magic. Close your eyes and forget. Feel the peace and enjoy it. Let the magical water wash away all the darkness. Breathe freely and deeply, smile. Maybe even a tear will fall. Let it trail down your face, wandering along the grooves of your face, and fall into the water flowing around you. That tear will drift away, touching someone who needs it and helping them along the way.

i Tým autorů Calmory