Charles & Ravice Calamity Relived

The young black mouse in red and brown had fallen silent, Her head remaining lowered for several moments in the door way beside her mother after a strike of her walking stick, as if overcome by shame or fear; I knew at once it was not from pain for no tears formed in the corner of her eyes. How could a mouse, a child of Freya who was one a strong and wise warrior, who had never yet laid eyes upon me before, fear me.

'Charles,' Ravice began slowly, still staring at the floor, 'You may have never seen me before, but I have laid eyes upon you and Jane. The day you both first came out from your silent tomb.' Still her eyes would not surrender from their intense gaze upon the floor, she was concentrating all her will just to be able to speak to me. 'You remember, the day you fired the laser and the tree fell,' I nodded letting out a barely audible yes. She must not have heard me, or maybe she was lost in the memory of the calamity that errupted the forest into chaos that day.

On that particular morning as the light of dawn penetrated the skies amidst the haze, illuminating the world below in a deep shade of purple, as if twilight had come early, the gigantic steel crab which had rested dormant suddenly woke up. The Behemoth groaned as the ancient gears began to rotate every so slowly, it stopped when its right claw was open and aiming maliciously towards the tree. A beam of living liquid fire poured out from the claw and severed the giganitc Redwood from its roots. Then the menacing steel crab began to raise itself up, pushing hard against the tree, as it did so a wire shot out and a sharp hook on the end sank deep into one of the larger branches just above the Gallant farm, another shot out and sank its single tooth into the mightiest branch of a neighbouring Giant Sequoia and with one great pull of the wires the mouse kingdom began to plummet towards the earth.

The steel beast had calculated the beam and subsequent push to pull measurements perfectly. As the tree fell it collided with no other tree, that is until it hit the mighty branch it was being pulled towards, which did not crack or break under the weight for just as before the collision the crab shot another several wires out sinking deep into the boughs of the falling tree and the steel behemoth pulled hard and the branch acted as a leaver. Hundreds of branches exploded as the falling tree was pulled over the other side of its neighbours mighty branch. As the mangled tree began to roll over the other side it creaked and groaned the sound filled the valley as it began its second descent towards the forest floor, still far below. Most of the Boughs were gone, shattered in the explosion which sent pieces of branches in every direction, mingled in the fall amidst tiny wood chips, pulp and shredded green flakes, which were once leaves, were tears of red rain, blood. The leaf and splinter storm was blinding, much like a mid-winter blizzard amongst the chaos fell the terror frozen, the wounded and the dead.

The tree began its second descended, like a carrot being thrust back into the earth in reverse order, top first. With a tremendous thwomp, which resounded throughout the valley, the Redwood struck the Arbutus labyrinth upon the shallow slope and began to slide down towards the ravine. The labyrinth carried the weight of the gigantic Redwood as it slid, sparing the forest floor from the chaos. The savaged Sequoia quickly found the ravine, it went over the side and began a 3rd, albeit shorter, descent towards the lower side of the valley beyond. It smashed into the forests smoting down deep into the Arbutus labyrinth. The tree became one with the labyrinth upon the far side, and the forest fell silence once again.
Raising her gaze to meet mine, she continued, 'the tragic events of that day were only narrowly avoided, but by the dream of a dear friend. It is her, not you, that I am here to see this day,' with that she bounded off between my legs and down the hall.

In all hopes of returning,
Charles & Ravice