Wren and the Whispering Woods
Wren had to walk home through the woods as the sun went down, and at first, she was afraid.
The trees creaked. The shadows stretched. And all around her, the woods seemed to whisper — soft, secret sounds she couldn’t understand. Shhh… shhh… whish…
Wren’s heart beat fast. “Who’s there?” she called bravely.
But no one answered. Only the whispering went on.
So Wren did a very wise thing. Instead of running, she stopped. She took a deep breath. And she listened — really listened — to what the woods were saying.
And slowly, she began to understand.
The shhh was only the wind, brushing gently through the leaves like a mother smoothing a blanket.
The whish was only an owl, settling softly onto her branch for the night.
The creak was only the old trees, stretching their tired limbs before they went to sleep.
The woods weren’t scary at all. The woods were getting ready for bed, just like Wren — and they were whispering goodnight to each other.
“Goodnight, wind,” Wren whispered back. “Goodnight, owl. Goodnight, trees.”
And as she walked the last of the path home, the whispering woods walked with her, gentle and kind, wishing her sweet dreams the whole way.
Wren was never afraid of the woods again. Because now she knew their secret: they were only whispering goodnight.
The end. 🌲
Talk about it together
- What did the woods turn out to be whispering?
- How did Wren turn her fear into wonder?
- What is something that seemed scary but turned out to be friendly?