The Great Forest

There once lived a boy named Jim. He lived in a poor village that had very few resources. Its people often fell sick and died since there were no proper medicines. Jim was a very adventurous boy who loved to do things the hard way. He was also very clever and got good marks at school. One day while returning from school, he heard his friends talking in hushed voices. "Hey! What are you talking about?" he asked the boys. "We are talking about the Whispering Green," one of the boys said and shivered. "The Whispering Green, what's that?" Jim asked, puzzled. "Well, you see…." began his friend. "Yes!" said Jim, excited. He felt like this was going to be a good tale, and indeed it was! "There was once a spirit of the forest, the great forest" He pointed to a nearby wood with a kind of a dome shape sticking out at the center. "What's that bump?" interrupted Jim curiously. "Let me finish," the boy snapped. He cleared his throat, "SO, as I was saying there was a spirit of the forest and he was very good. It is rumored that he had a great treasure in his possession. One day witches disguised as woodcutters came into the forest and made the spirit angry. He tried to attack them unaware of the fact that they were witches and got cursed to turn into a tree. They said that if a clever and brave boy could go inside him, and come out with the treasure, and say the words 'oh no!' even after getting the treasure, he would be free." "So that's the legend, is it," Jim said. "Yes, and as for that bump, it is the great tree" "Ok," said Jim "I'm going in" But the boys had already left. He got ready and went into the forest fearlessly. He saw that the spell had affected the forest around the tree and made all the beautiful flowers and trees into brambles. He walked through them and almost into a clearing with a bear and a tiger. He crept around that clearing and continued. He reached the big tree and saw that there was a big hollow in the center. He climbed into it hesitantly and suddenly everything went dark and gloomy. And as soon as it happened he saw that everywhere he looked there was gold! He ran around and picked up as much as he could.

He heard a grating noise but was oblivious to it in excitement and when he turned around there was no exit. A voice announced that there would be 3 doors out of which he could escape. There were some water and bananas to keep him healthy until they ran out and he would be stuck, just like the other explorers who had come here in search of gold. He saw a glint of white from around him and saw hundreds of bones. All bones of the greedy explorers. He saw that a label had appeared over each of the doors. In the first one, there was the hottest fire in the whole universe, in the second there was a gorilla who would certainly eat him. And in the third one, there was a pack of hungry wolves. He saw the bananas and opened the second room holding them. The gorilla burst out and chased after him, and he knew why. Then he ran and opened the first door and saw the flames, threw the bananas in them and watched calmly as the gorilla ran after the bananas and gave a mighty roar. Then he took his bottle of water, and went deeper into the gold-filled chamber. He found a big cart brought by the other explorers and put as much gold as he could into it. Then he ran back out but suddenly shouted "Oh no!" The bear and tiger had come right in front of the exit. They were about to charge when a golden flash appeared from behind Jim and the tree transformed back into the spirit. The animals bowed low before their master and the spirit thanked Jim very much He snapped his fingers and Jim and the cart full of gold were transported right to the center of his village. He told everyone what had happened and they all cheered him. The village had become one of the richest in the country and they lifted Jim high into the air. From there he saw the spirit's magic at work. The brambles he had walked through became beautiful trees and flowers and the forest became great again.