The Bonfire of Secrets

In a forest which was dark and filled with trees, a small village had made its home in the shade of tall and strong trees. The people were still rather primitive and their affairs directly related to the cycles of nature. Each year, as the chill of autumn settled in and the nights grew longer, they gathered for a time-honored tradition: the so called Festival of Bonfires.

The festival was a bit like a harvest festival and also provided preparation for the very cold winter that was soon to follow. People in the village would go to the nearby forest and pick different herbs each having a different kind of importance in curing diseases and in performing traditional activities. The climax of the festival was the bonfire night in which the people of the village would share stories, songs and sit around the fire.

There were many villagers and one of the villagers was a young girl named Elara. She had one of the largest curiosity strengths in the world and she used to capture the impossible herbs deep in the forest. From her mother Yara, who was the village healer, Elara had got this gift, learning everything from her about the forest. Yara knew all about herbs, and it has been a while since she cured a few people with the help of her preparations.

One year, when the preparations for the festival were underway, Yara became seriously ill, and her cheerful disposition was gone. Unwilling to let her grandmother die, Elara decided to look for a magical herb called the “Moon’s Tear.” This plant could only grow once in ten years in the forest on the night of a full moon.

Just before the start of the festive night, Elara embarked on her journey. With only a dim lantern, a basket, and her grandmother’s nearly-antique book of herbs, she takes the step to enter the forest. She felt the giants trees towering over her and the dry branches chattering to her like murmurs. This was fear mixed with resolve and it beat frantically in Elara’s chest.

Days went by as she continued her journey into the interior of the forest. The moon was up and its light painted the lit area in a silver color to guide them. As she was about to give up, Elara noticed a tiny glow in the far distance, like the light of a star. She ran towards it and as she draw nearer, in a rather small glade, was the Moon’s Tear.

The herb she thought was more beautiful than she had pictured in her mind. It had small petals that glowed with an alien luster, and the scent of the flower was calm and tranquil. Elara picked the herb with a lot of rapture, putting it into the basket carefully. Having done this she was filled with energy as if some supernatural force in the forest approved of what she was doing.

Having gotten the Moon’s Tear Elara ran back to the village. The fire was set, ashes crackled, and people were waiting in the circle, their faces illuminated by the firelight. Elara walked to her grandmother’s hut where Yara rested on her sick bed. A potion using the Moon’s Tear was brewed by her using the instructions left by her grandmother.

Elara then fed Yara the potion and the latter took it little by little. Time was slipping away and then, to the amazement of one and all, the color of health bloomed again on Yara’s face. She barely looked at the girl and forced a smile on her pale face as her eyes opened slightly. The villagers started to cheer and the sound of it simply floated through the night.

Yara, now fully restored to life, participated in the festival with renewed vigor. She grabbed Elara’s hand and walked her closer to the fire and she join stood beside her warming her hand on the heat of the fire. Yara recalled the legend of Moon’s Tear and the bravery of her granddaughter, who had ventured into the forest for it.

The flames leaped and the voices rose, and Elara felt as content as she ever had. In addition to rescuing her grandmother, she also cemented her paradigm shift between self and nature. The feast lasted until late night, honoring life, strength, and invincibility of the spirit of the forest.

From there on people of the village regarded her as the healer who risked her life to save some of her fellow villagers. That is how the tale of the Moon’s Tear has remained a fable, alive through oral tradition as a confirmation of the existence of miracles in the forest and the power of familial and community bonds.