Swirling, wondrous winds brush my hair as my ears twitch to the snapping of twigs below the pads of my feet. The Earth is soft and cool to touch as I tilt my head up to the sky. My arms embrace each droplet of rain as it laps at my frame. If one could describe the sensations of a quiet forest it would be this. The word escapes my lips.

"Evernest."

Evernest? Do you mean Everest? You can't possibly be explaining such a tangible place.

No.

"Evernest."

You blink and life flashes you by. One minute you are blowing out the candles at your 10th birthday, smiling at the familiar faces around you. You blink again and you are handed the keys to your first home. Blink again and your children are heading off to college.

Here life stands still.

Every raindrop is felt on my skin. It chills my warm skin as goosebumps riddle my flesh. One could say it is perfect here. Out there perfect is stripped away to raw human emotion leading the way, creating decisions that have no logical manner.

That hurt our mother Earth, but we don't care because it is the foundation for us to continue. Progress over preservation. But in Evernest we take into account the laws of mother nature.

We.

Respect.

The Land.

I have been walking this forest for 29 human years. It has shown me that if you take care of it, if you give back to it what it gave to you, it will protect you. It will be there for you when you need it.

Man does not do this. But what do we have if not each other?

Who can we rely on?

Not who. What.

"Evernest."

This short story came about in a dream. A need to balance nature and humanity with ever looming perpetual doom on the cliff of no return. Nesting safely in my thoughts until nature can recover from the damage we have done to her.