4. Into a Bright Clearing
www.campfiresparks.org
(You dock your canoe, downstream of the capuchins.)
This forest is a love affair.
Fallen dinosaur fronds the shape of hearts, strewn like read letters, papier-mâché’d to the jungle floor.
Mossy rocks besotted with droplets from recent rains, brushed by aerial roots from treetops too tall to see.
A trail made of stone heads into the trees.
[ Follow the meandering trail, humming an improvised song ] —
At first, your path is dark, dense with overgrowth. Creatures buzz your ears; wet air soaks your clothes.
After, you’re narrowly winding through crevasses between boulders. A hazy overcast looms above as you begin to hike skyward.
Finally, you arrive at a clearing drenched in sunlight:
