The time for harvest has ended, and all is tired. Mother Nature is at work once more, lulling the creatures of small and of big to sleep. She billows her breath across the wooded land, crafting delicate crystals of frost on the crisp branches and leaves left behind from the past winds of fall. With one last sigh, she wisps away to the skies, to watch her beloved kingdom, Earth, to sleep in peaceful quiet.

Like a dream, I enter this new world with curious caution, and step lightly into the barrier that marks the wood's edge. The ground is blanketed in white, the sweet rays of sunlight reflecting off the surface and making it gleam brightly. Each step I take is muffled by the thick softness that surrounds me.

“Puff puff puff.” says the snow as it rolls around my knees as I take another careful step. Loose snowflakes rise from the mound and dance around my eyes, sparkling in the light.
I am within the woods now, and I stop to look around. My eyes limit me to what is noticeable, but what I do not know is what's hidden within the crisp bramble bushes and frost blackened tree trunks. I look past the shielding dead foliage and begin to see the creatures that look back at me, just as curious.

“Puff puff.” A snowy white rabbit hops out into the open, its ears tilted to the side, and its nose and whiskers twitching as it identifies me as either a friend or foe. I must me a friend, for the little rabbit takes another hop toward me “Puff puff.” Three more rabbits, which are smaller than the one in front of me, step from behind the tree. They huddle behind their mother, and she turns and twitches her ears as a sign of recognition. As if is response, the little bundles of fluff hop around chasing one another playfully. “Puff puff puff.” Their playful game disturbs the snow and the empty air is filled with glittering clouds of snowflakes. The world around me is no longer a quiet, empty space, but an exciting world of surprises. More and more creatures stir from their hiding places and step into the open. A deer rummages through the snow for food while her fawn frolics around the trees, leaping happily. Three blue jays swoop from the sky and onto a low hanging branch, searching the bare bushes for winter berries. The forest has come alive with excitement.

The world goes silent once more. I open my eyes and find myself at the edge of the woods. I smile and turn around. Before taking my first step back home, I glance around and look once more at the forest, leaving it to its mysterious, slumbering silence.