Our Lady of the Forest
[Note: This was written for the 31st Annual Geauga Park District Nature Writing Contest. It did not win. I happened to like it, but I'm partial. What do you think?] Just an ordinary traveler leading an ordinary horse by an ordinary rein, walking down an ordinary path through an ordinary forest to see an ordinary statue in the heart of an ordinary wood. The statue was called Our Lady of the Forest , because nobody knew what else to call it, for it was a copper statue of a lady, flowers in her hair, her hand outstretched, her foot stepping back, as if she was bidding some beau adieu before his potentially fatal battle with a dragon or a war between his king and someone else's. There was no inscription, no apparent signature, and over the years, the elements became as much of a contributor to the sculpture as the original sculptor had. In her hand was a nest, her fingers curled enough to keep the bundle of sticks and straw from blowing in the gentle breezes of the woods. At her fe...