The clearing in the forest
Text: Tineke Blommendaal
Illustration: Grace Moore
Illustration: Grace Moore
The giraffe, with its long neck, could see very far.
This morning, though, he was a little startled. He had seen that an dark, angry cloud was coming. A cloud so dark and so angry that the giraffe thought to himself, 'That doesn't bode well. Maybe the cloud only carried rain. Maybe thunder and lightning too. Or hail, perhaps.'
Of course, it could be that the cloud is relieved to have had some rain and some thunder. But it could also be that the cloud is so incredibly angry that it will remain dark for days. Then maybe the forest will also stay dark for days.
As you can imagine, that's not very pleasant.
Anyway, the giraffe had seen the cloud. The cloud that seemed so dark and angry.
This morning, though, he was a little startled. He had seen that an dark, angry cloud was coming. A cloud so dark and so angry that the giraffe thought to himself, 'That doesn't bode well. Maybe the cloud only carried rain. Maybe thunder and lightning too. Or hail, perhaps.'
Of course, it could be that the cloud is relieved to have had some rain and some thunder. But it could also be that the cloud is so incredibly angry that it will remain dark for days. Then maybe the forest will also stay dark for days.
As you can imagine, that's not very pleasant.
Anyway, the giraffe had seen the cloud. The cloud that seemed so dark and angry.
The giraffe was a little worried, and so he had called all the animals of the forest together in the big clearing.
The place in the forest where they did gather often. When there was something to celebrate or just, sometimes, because it was pleasant to meet. But now it was different.
Now there wasn't much fun. Everyone looked serious and severe and listened to what the giraffe had to say.
And the giraffe talked about the distance and about the dark angry cloud. He also told them that this cloud will be blown right over the big animal forest as it looked now. He did not know what this would mean. But having an angry dark cloud over your head for days is not something to look forward to.
All listened to the giraffe first, but then the animals began to talk crisscross to each other.
They all had ideas and thoughts that wanted to be said. First, the ants started shouting, 'What can we do? What can we do?' Because ants like it to work on a solution right away
Then it was the rhinoceros, right at the same time as the goldfish and the squirrel. And then it was a clucking fit. Everyone was in an uproar.
There were ideas to put a very high fence in front of the forest so the cloud couldn't get through. Or to all start blowing very hard so the cloud would return home. Or to all put a...
The elephant raised his trunk in the air and trumpeted loudly, as loudly as he could. All the animals looked his way, after which he said, 'This sparrow has an idea; perhaps it would be good to hear it for a moment.'
They all had ideas and thoughts that wanted to be said. First, the ants started shouting, 'What can we do? What can we do?' Because ants like it to work on a solution right away
Then it was the rhinoceros, right at the same time as the goldfish and the squirrel. And then it was a clucking fit. Everyone was in an uproar.
There were ideas to put a very high fence in front of the forest so the cloud couldn't get through. Or to all start blowing very hard so the cloud would return home. Or to all put a...
The elephant raised his trunk in the air and trumpeted loudly, as loudly as he could. All the animals looked his way, after which he said, 'This sparrow has an idea; perhaps it would be good to hear it for a moment.'
The little sparrow, usually always very enthusiastic and present, now felt a little embarrassed. But it was true; he had an idea. It may even be a very good idea. Now how was he going to explain this to the other animals? And so he began:
'I don't know about you, but I myself am a little afraid of something so big, dark and angry. After all, you never know what will come next. But I do know that sometimes I feel dark and angry myself. I'm sure we all have that sometimes. So, well, I thought...,' he hesitated for a moment before speaking further.
'If we all just feel what our own darkness and anger feels like and see what that looks like. If we each manage to give our own piece of darkness a word or perhaps a color. Maybe then we will also better understand how to deal with the big angry dark cloud.'
The animals thought this was a very good idea.
They agreed that everyone would study their own darkness throughout the rest of the day and that the next morning they would meet again in the clearing as soon as the sun shone through the trees.
And so it happened.
'I don't know about you, but I myself am a little afraid of something so big, dark and angry. After all, you never know what will come next. But I do know that sometimes I feel dark and angry myself. I'm sure we all have that sometimes. So, well, I thought...,' he hesitated for a moment before speaking further.
'If we all just feel what our own darkness and anger feels like and see what that looks like. If we each manage to give our own piece of darkness a word or perhaps a color. Maybe then we will also better understand how to deal with the big angry dark cloud.'
The animals thought this was a very good idea.
They agreed that everyone would study their own darkness throughout the rest of the day and that the next morning they would meet again in the clearing as soon as the sun shone through the trees.
And so it happened.
Before the first rays of light appeared between the trees, some animals had already arrived. From all sides now, animals came running, flying and swimming.
It didn't stop. Many more animals than the day before. The animals were enthusiastically exchanging stories with each other when....
The elephant raised its trunk in the air again, trumpeting and asking for silence.
The giraffe reported on the big angry cloud that was indeed, as he had expected, still moving toward the big animal forest. Because the cloud was now a lot closer, it seemed like it had gotten even bigger, angrier and darker.
Then the animals took turns telling about their own darkness, their own anger. Often these were sort of little dark spots that were still a bit in their bodies, but sometimes these were big spots that hung around them like clouds.
The lion talked about how he felt some darkness because he hadn't had a real nice roar for too long and asked if he could do that for a moment.
'Now, just right away, so everyone can hear.'
The other animals nodded curiously, whereupon the lion let out his very loudest roar. Some of the animals found that a bit exciting. But it also sounded very beautiful. The lion was glad that the roar was finally out. It had been stuck in his throat for far too long.
The ladybug said that she had discovered that her darkness was because she didn't know how many dots she had on her back. After all, she could never see that for herself. After a few animals counted the dots and counted them again to be sure, they told her there were exactly seven. This made the ladybug very happy. Seven, she thought, was a nice number.
The squirrel had recovered the darkness in his tail. It helped him to give it the word 'plume'. He liked that better than 'tail'. For the frog, the term 'splash' had helped and made it all a little lighter.
The wolf explained that his darkness had to do not with anger but with sadness. He often felt like he wanted to cry some more. He said he didn't really understand it either, but crying made him happy. He had not cried for too long, and spontaneously he began to cry as only wolves can.
The other animals listened with emotion.
The swan's darkness was more about arguing with his neck, which never knew so well whether it wanted to make itself long or not. The big bear told of a darkness in his head. Because of this, he was often a bit gloomy. His solution was to give the darkness in his head the color of honey. Because he loved that.
A little bunny talked about the darkness in his paws and that it disappeared when he could stomp on the ground nicely, and the mole said that he was actually happy with the darkness. He was more annoyed that sometimes so much light shone in his eyes.
Well, you can understand that the animals listened to each other's stories all day.
Actually, it was pretty special; they didn't know this about each other at all. Now, while they were all a little afraid of the big, dark, angry cloud, it was still a very nice day together like this.
Last were the ants, and they said that the darkness was just part of their lives. Sometimes they were underground, and it was dark, sometimes above ground, and then it was often light. And just like always, now they really wanted to know what to do.
Because yes, it was a nice day and with all the stories from all the animals, they had all learned a lot, but what should they do now with the big dark cloud that was coming ever closer?
The animals agreed that it was an important question. But the sun was already setting, and most animals wanted a quick snack and then go to bed. They agreed to meet again the next morning.
And so it happened.
The next morning, the elephant raised its trunk in the air again, trumpeted loudly, and the animals fell silent. It became a familiar ritual.
Now the bunny took the floor and told the following: 'Yesterday I listened to all the stories everyone told about their own darkness and their own anger. Also, how everyone managed to resolve that in their own way. I came to understand it a little bit.'
'What struck me is that we are all so different and distinct. We all have different things we know and different things we're good at. So, the first thing I thought of was that we need each other poorly. Because I am a bunny and I can run very fast, but I can't see very far like the giraffe, or work very hard like the ants, or spray water into the air like the whale. Because we are all different, we can all figure out in our own way how to make the evil dark cloud disappear again.'
The seagull, who had a quality of curiosity, said, 'Actually, I would like to know why the cloud is so big, so dark, and so angry.' And the animals all agreed.
'Therefore', the seagull continued, 'I want to ask if it's okay with you if I fly up to the cloud. Just to ask how he is and if the cloud itself knows why he is so dark.'
Yes, that was an excellent idea.
At the same time, the animals thought it was exciting and courageous of the seagull. No sooner said than done. The seagull took off, flew for a moment over the clearing and then she flew straight to the cloud.
She flew around the cloud, over it and past it. She spoke to the cloud, and the cloud spoke back.
The animals waited and waited.
They could not see or hear what was happening between the cloud and the seagull. But after a few hours of patient and sometimes less patient waiting, they saw the seagull come flying back.
It had been exciting to fly toward the darkness, the seagull said. 'In the end, I had to go all the way into the darkness. After all, the cloud wasn't quite sure why it was so dark and had said, look in my belly yourself. So, I flew all the way into the dark cloud. And arriving there in the belly, I became very sad...'
The seagull explained that the cloud was not angry but sad, and the wolves understood that. But the cloud couldn't cry very well, so that's why the sadness didn't just go away.
The seagull also told them that the cloud was now so locked inside itself that it couldn't even see the sun anymore.
The animals could all feel for themselves what that was like because, meanwhile, very slowly, the big dark cloud had moved in front of the sun, and it became chilly, cold and dark in the big clearing in the forest.
The animals got cold, and some even began to shiver a little from the cold. They noticed that they preferred to crawl away under the ground, but that was not possible right now. There was a big dark cloud, and it couldn't cry. It was as if they could all feel the cloud's sadness.
The animals now understood the seriousness of the situation. But not only that, they also understood what they all had to do. The cloud was very sad, and could not cry properly; they had to help him.
The whale and the elephant began to squirt a lot of water into the air because they were actually quite good at that. That way the cloud could remember what tears are.
The wolf started crying very loudly, and the lion roared very loudly.
Each animal went from his and her own quality and expertise to help the cloud with its grief.
The cloud joined in the crying and roaring. Meanwhile, he noticed that he started to rain and was surprised at how easy it actually was. Lots of rain. Big drops and tiny drops. The animals below understood that this was a good sign, and some chickens began to encourage the cloud, 'Rain it, do it, that's good.'
While from the ground, the animals all did their own way what they thought they should do, from above, the sun began to shine brighter and brighter.
The cloud that had first turned all inward looked up from this. The sun winked at the cloud. The cloud felt a smile come across its face and began to rain even harder. He almost got pleasure out of it. Even the rainbow became curious about what was going on and came to take a look.
The animals, who by now had been rained all wet, understood all those tears because they were also very sad sometimes with many tears.
Today they helped the cloud to cry.
So it happened that on that day in the clearing, there were a lot of animals looking up at a cloud that had arrived there, big, dark and angry and at the rain splashing in the middle of their faces.
The cloud got lighter and smaller but was not finished crying. All this lasted three more days before the cloud completely dissolved and only sunshine could be seen.
The seagull also told them that the cloud was now so locked inside itself that it couldn't even see the sun anymore.
The animals could all feel for themselves what that was like because, meanwhile, very slowly, the big dark cloud had moved in front of the sun, and it became chilly, cold and dark in the big clearing in the forest.
The animals got cold, and some even began to shiver a little from the cold. They noticed that they preferred to crawl away under the ground, but that was not possible right now. There was a big dark cloud, and it couldn't cry. It was as if they could all feel the cloud's sadness.
The animals now understood the seriousness of the situation. But not only that, they also understood what they all had to do. The cloud was very sad, and could not cry properly; they had to help him.
The whale and the elephant began to squirt a lot of water into the air because they were actually quite good at that. That way the cloud could remember what tears are.
The wolf started crying very loudly, and the lion roared very loudly.
Each animal went from his and her own quality and expertise to help the cloud with its grief.
The cloud joined in the crying and roaring. Meanwhile, he noticed that he started to rain and was surprised at how easy it actually was. Lots of rain. Big drops and tiny drops. The animals below understood that this was a good sign, and some chickens began to encourage the cloud, 'Rain it, do it, that's good.'
While from the ground, the animals all did their own way what they thought they should do, from above, the sun began to shine brighter and brighter.
The cloud that had first turned all inward looked up from this. The sun winked at the cloud. The cloud felt a smile come across its face and began to rain even harder. He almost got pleasure out of it. Even the rainbow became curious about what was going on and came to take a look.
The animals, who by now had been rained all wet, understood all those tears because they were also very sad sometimes with many tears.
Today they helped the cloud to cry.
So it happened that on that day in the clearing, there were a lot of animals looking up at a cloud that had arrived there, big, dark and angry and at the rain splashing in the middle of their faces.
The cloud got lighter and smaller but was not finished crying. All this lasted three more days before the cloud completely dissolved and only sunshine could be seen.
The animals had all been working hard. But now they had gone completely silent and looked at each other. Some had cried along, and others had dug trenches so the rain could flow away. They had succeeded. Now the sun was shining, and the animals who wanted it could dry again.
The darkness had been scary, but it had also made them curious. They had also gotten to know themselves and each other much better this way.
Actually, everyone could now go back to everyday life. Still, both the piglet and a group of chickens noticed that they would miss each other. Even the fox and the robin were still procrastinating and didn't want to go home yet. It had also just been nice together.
So, they decided to get together every month and share stories. Stories of darkness and light, joy and sorrow and everything else that wants to be told.
And so it happened.
The darkness had been scary, but it had also made them curious. They had also gotten to know themselves and each other much better this way.
Actually, everyone could now go back to everyday life. Still, both the piglet and a group of chickens noticed that they would miss each other. Even the fox and the robin were still procrastinating and didn't want to go home yet. It had also just been nice together.
So, they decided to get together every month and share stories. Stories of darkness and light, joy and sorrow and everything else that wants to be told.
And so it happened.
