THE CHOSEN ONES ( PART ONE )

My tale begins at a time when there were great forests and lush green land, when man was at one
with the earth, when there was no time, just day and night and man grew to know when the seasons
were changing. To feel the cold wind on his body, he would know that winter was on its way, to see
the first blade of grass start to grow, he knew that spring, then summer were not far away.

The forest was a great place to hide, with its tall trees, green ferns, little streams where the
water rippled over pebbles and was so clean and fresh and cooling to drink, not only for humans,
but for the creatures that roamed the forest.

The seeds would be sown in the forest by the birds, as they flew they would drop parts of their feast,
or nesting material, no bit of the forest was left untouched by the plant system, except where man
had made his new home, but like the creatures that lived in the forest moved around, man never stayed in one place, it would be so dangerous. Humans knew how to cover their tracks, when they left a living area of the forest, you would hardly know they had been there, except for the ashes of a fire which left its mark on the ground.

They could travel a life time through the great forest and still never discover it all. They got to know the dangers all around them, a great fire would be lit before nightfall, to keep them warm and to keep away the creatures of the night, also to cook his day's catch.

Man was a great hunter, a tree was a place to hide and pounce on his meal of the day, if he was lucky he could catch some wild rabbits, which tasted so good, or if a few men went out they could catch a bear, but man knew the strength of a bear was far more superior than anything they could handle. The bear could pick you up and crush every bone in your body, so it took at least six to ten men to spear a bear, but it meant they would'nt go hungry in the winter and the meat could be stored in the snow. The bears were usually left alone in the summer. Their coats were excellent for making boots or wraps and clothes for the body in winter.

Out of the forests there were great rivers where the fish were plenty, there was enough for everyone, yes food was definitely plentiful, but it was also very open and dangerous and was not a place forest men liked to venture, out of the safety of the cocoon of tall trees, but on occasions they would be tempted to fish and if successful there would be great feasting at night, a drink made from edible leaves, would be drunk and berries collected would be made into wine, mushrooms were picked to stuff the fish with herbs from the forest.

When night came, the feasting could begin, sometimes man would be tempted to pick mushrooms
with a hal'lucinatory feeling which helped him to discover himself and his world around him, but it
also took his fears away, which meant that he could put himself in great danger, especially if he
went wandering off alone.

Man would shout his thanks to the forest and dance around the fire, he would hold the fish up high
and thank the great rivers for the food it had given, then thank the fire for its warmth, food and protection. Yes man had a lot to be thankful for. THE CHOSEN ONES ( PART TWO ) | ABCtales