Through the Great Forest - II

There is no good in the river that runs dry.

Maura looked down from the overgrown bank into the empty riverbed as Nathan caught up to her. The expanse between the two banks was immense, and the distance to the bottom enough to allow the greatest ships to sail without worry.

"What's wrong?"

"The river isn't here. It's dried up."

"Long time from the looks of it. Look how cracked the bed is."

"This is the river that brought your father looking for a wife and brought his bride to a new life. In all the time before I left, this river was never dry. The elders speak of only one other time in the history of our village when this bed was dry. That story was one of great sorrow. Pray that those times are not being revisited. Come, we must hurry."

"What happened in the old story? Did people die? How long ago was it?"

Maura only said that they would speak of it later and moved toward the bridge. With each question from her son, she pushed faster until they had crossed, then slowed to a pace that Nathan could maintain. Nathan watched as his mother looked from side-to-side and began to do the same. The trees, however, looked no different than they had before the pair had come to the dried-up river. If anything, the forest seemed to grow more pleasant until the dusk winds made the leaves shimmer in the dying light of sunset, and Nathan heard the murmur of running water.