Forest Wisdom

by Dan Moore

  The village elders vowed to destroy the statues and reclaim the village square. They brought their axes and saws, but could not cut them. They set fires around each sculpture, but they wouldn’t burn. They tried to tear them out of the soil, but they were rooted deep into the forest floor. The harder they pulled, the stronger the statues became.

  The villagers began to turn against each other. Arguments erupted in homes and shops. Parents began to blame each other. People lost sleep, sitting on their porches to guard their children against their neighbors. Eventually, all the children were gone, replaced by their statues standing silently in the village square. Some of the villagers went mad while others died from inconsolable grief.

  * * *

  The forest changed. As cabins and shops grew empty, the wood consumed them rapidly, rotting wall and roof like a voracious animal devouring its kill. The signs of death and decay were palpable throughout the village. Creativity vanished. Men and women put down their tools. They stopped making fine furniture and carvings to take to the open land. The elders stopped making their trips and there were no supplies to feed and maintain the village. The barren season came and many did not survive the harsh winter. The remaining handful of people left, forsaking the certainty of the village for the dangers of the open land beyond the wood. Then, the meeting hall collapsed in upon itself and the forest reclaimed it.

  Remarkably, the square was left untouched by the mysterious pestilence that consumed the village. It was as if an unseen gardener tended the statuary. The grass remained as smooth as a carpet and the double oak stood proudly over the gleaming sculptures of the lost children.

  Finally, the Preacher stood for the last time next to the pile of rocks in the center of the village. All the cabins were almost gone, the forest restoring its natural order. He had watched as his flock dwindled and his village died. He still held to the customs and truths that defined his life, but there was no one left to teach. No one left to sing. No one left to violate the customs and rules of the village. He stood alone with all the statues of the children who had so mysteriously disappeared. The Preacher had nothing left to say.

  Time stood still. The Preacher blinked his eyes and a lifetime passed by. Something had changed in the heart of the village square. A new statue appeared where the mighty double oak had stood. Two figures rose up from their wooden pedestals. They were the children who had been stoned. The girl looked as if she was dancing through the wood, her chin raised up and her eyes radiant. Her hair was tossed back upon her shoulders as she glanced at her partner with a precocious grin. The boy danced by her side, his hopes and dreams written across his face as he looked at his beloved. The Preacher didn’t know what to think. It was a shock to see this statue where the great double oak had stood for generations. He looked disapprovingly at the sculpture, at the boy and the girl holding hands as they danced with joy.

  ###

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Dan Moore lives with his wife Diana near Syracuse, New York. He is a freelance video producer and the proud father of two sons, two daughters-in-law and three grandsons. He holds degrees from Cornell, Boston and Syracuse Universities. Dan has written two previous novels, The Rings of Alathea, and Meridian's Shadow, which is the first novel in the Meridian's Shadow series. He is currently writing his fourth novel, Broken Bridge.

  MORE GREAT STORIES FROM DAN MOORE

  THE RINGS OF ALATHEA

  Earth has been rendered uninhabitable by an asteroid impact. A woman wakes up on a pod ship orbiting a mysterious planet with golden rings. She’s been asleep for five hundred years and doesn’t remember who she is. She wakes up in Jameson Stryker’s hibernation chamber, so they call her Jamie. Half of her companions have died. She is surrounded by strangers and haunted by her dreams. When they land, Jamie and the other colonists find themselves on the shore of an alien sea and surrounded by a strange jungle. Mysterious lights appear and their settlement is threatened by forces beyond their control. Jamie begins to remember the past and discovers an alien presence. There is much more to her than she ever imagined. Everyone’s survival rests on her shoulders and resides in her mind.

  REVIEW

  After reading the sample chapters, I was hooked and bought the book. I just couldn't put it down. It is a worthy light science fiction book with some metaphysical elements. I will certainly read more that this author writes. Moore's writing style is superb and his character development is excellent. I was invested in the characters and was sorry to see the novel end.

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  MERIDIAN'S SHADOW

  Hunter Logan must fight a battle to save his daughter and the world. When his team creates dangerous nanomachines to fight pollution, a saboteur's bomb destroys their lunar laboratory and unleashes the killer particles. Logan finds himself caught between the sociopathic leader of Meridian Corporation who wants the deadly nanomachines and a radical environmental group that wants to stop his work at all costs. Hunter is crushed by guilt. He and his family are driven across the solar system to an isolated research settlement and forced to recreate the killer nanomachines. Logan's daughter is taken hostage and enemies infiltrate his team. The stakes can't be higher as Hunter Logan struggles to find his daughter and stop his deadly creation that threatens the world. This is the first novel in the Meridian’s Shadow series.

  REVIEW

  This is the second science fiction novel I’ve bought of the author’s, and just like The Rings of Alathea, Dan Moore blew me away. There are some authors who have the unique gift of developing characters that jump off the page, and plots that are full of surprises; Dan Moore is one of these authors. In one word, I would define this novel as epic.

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  MERIDIAN'S SHADOW II: NIXIE'S RISE

  Nixie Drake is a seventeen year-old interplanetary smuggler whose world crashes down around her. She loses her ship and her crew in the aftermath of a foolhardy decision. She questions the loyalty of her friends and is shattered by their betrayal. Little does she know that she is in the cross-hairs of an old enemy. With her life crumbling and her confidence broken, Nixie discovers the secret of her beginnings and must decide whether she will be a victim, bound to her past or a leader who tenaciously pursues her future. NIXIE’S RISE is the second novel in the MERIDIAN’S SHADOW series by Dan Moore.

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