The forest stirs under the sun’s blossoming smile. Rays of light, hesitant and shy, search for footholds in the deep crevices of Waikawa Forest, alighting the sand in dappled splashes that throw the rich brown of the trees into sharp contrast against the soft, white grains that sweep the forest floor in eddying waves. Roots writhe and twist beneath the ground, rising and falling with the crested, humped backs of the dunes, a sandy sea that rolls out like a blanket beneath the trees.
Leaves rustle themselves awake, whispering against each other in familiar touches. The wind spins through the treetops, making old branches dance as though young again. The trees, gnarled and twisted with time’s harsh kiss, lift in worship to the dawning sky, bare branches rattling bones in winter’s crisp grasp. Bark, rough and furrowed like dark chocolate, glistens with a sheen of early morning frost that sweats and yields to the sun’s strengthening touches.
Light skitters and frolics across the gossamer lines of spider webs that connect trees like heartlines. Spiders, poised and delicate as trapeze artists, spin crystalline castles of shimmering iridescence. Birds sing melodies to welcome the light, and, in a corner of the forest too dense to be seen, the river harmonizes, voice echoing across the forest floor. The light filters down in graceful pillars that spin and illuminate powdery specks of sand, kissing the earth in gentle presses that chase away the dark shadows beneath the trees, bathing the forest in gold.
In the distance a blue banner rises, spreading like spilled ink across the page, admiral blue fading to cerulean and sapphire as the sun flecks the ocean’s face. Twinkles of light dance and leap through the waves, capping the crests in canary gold. Another sound breaks the quiet now - the soft sighs of the ocean, waking with the sun. Waves splash and play, flirting with the sand in brief, coy touches, only to recede again with a whisper of laughter, murmurs of the tide rising and falling across the sand.
A light breeze, with a whisper of cold borne on it’s misted breath, flies down the beach, weaving through the flowers to shake quivering water droplets from bowed flowerheads, petals warming and spreading in the golden glow of dawn. A harsh cry echoes abruptly through the still, as, high above the banner of blue below, a bird rises. The seagull wheels and drifts, wings spanned in full stretch to embrace the waking sky above, as the dusty dawn gives way to baby blue.
The beach leads to the forest through a patchwork of dunes that rise to silhouette against the sky, heavy brows topped with widow's peaks of green tussocks. Toi toi heads wave in the wind like distant flags, white flashing and flaring in the sun. Mottled pathways weave through towering dunes to the forest that lay ahead, glowing in the early morning sunshine. It’s vibrance shines as the sun eclipses the night.
Amidst the murmurs of the ocean and the whispered melodies of the forest, a child’s laughter rings out. A dog barks, and a parent calls a warning to not stray too far as the child runs into the forest, the dog following in a flurry of sand, both excited to experience the adventure awaiting them.
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Above the forest, the sun watches peacefully from his throne amidst the clouds, and, finally, finally, the night is swept away, and the day dawns bright and clear.
