Excerpt: Jack In The Green

The forest dreams.

It doesn’t think as fast as we do. It doesn’t have to. The concerns of the forest used to be those of slow growth and the breathing of the seasons. Nothing to be gained by rushing into action, nothing to be done by fast action. The forest dreams through the flicker of night and day, patient and happy to get there in the end.

Humans have changed this. We are fast, impatient, and short lived. We want everything now, and we hate waiting. When we plan, it is to make sure we get what we want in the most efficient manner, and we are rarely content to let events unfold. Thus, we contrast with the slow rhythm of the forest, much as we impact its life.

The forest can think fast when it needs to.

The forest hears a voice cry out in pain. It does not and cannot answer all voices, but something is special about this one. Something familiar, something that resonates.

Forests dream. They think slowly, they act slower still.

He will do what he can.