Forests are the settings for fairytale worlds and modern horror films.

It might be all that fecundity and mystery surrounding wooded places that gets the minds of creative-types churning out fantastical tales.  Many tales seem to be set in the deep recesses of forests, places that humans must tread lightly for fear of awakening a fell beast or triggering the mischievous deeds of the faerie folk.   But our writing prompt this delightful day in May doesn’t take us inside a wooded maze.  It keeps us out of it.  And it lets whatever inhabits the forest come to us!

Writing Prompt #13 – Out of the Forest Line

Let’s operate off the definition of “forest line.”  A forest line is that place at the edge of a wooded area where the trees thicken in number enough to create a canopy.  It’s that point where a glade or meadow stops and the trees begin.  Like other places that are not quite one thing or another, a place between two definite notions, the forest line is a place of potentiality and magic.

Take a few minutes to study the picture below.  This shot was taken by my friend Cy Gilbert, an excellent photographer, as you can plainly see for yourself.  This picture will be the jumping off point of our prompt today.

Once you get a feel for the shot, I want you to imagine that you’re there, standing in that light green grass, looking at that scant suggestion of a path leading into the bare trees.  You aren’t going to be moving at all.  Instead, you’ll stay put.  But there, in front of you, a bit of color catches your eye.  A brittle twig crunches under a foot or perhaps a hoof?  What, dear writer, comes out of that forest line?  And when it shows itself, what happens next?  Do you have a conversation with a ghostly apparition?  A fight with a hipster centaur?  What story comes out of the forest line?

When you’re finished with your writing, check out more of Cy’s work here!