The Search for the Elves' Cure - Chapter Eleven

Mondrilla the Evil One - Tree Tunnel

Now it is getting spooky.  The children have faced their fears in order to face the challenge ahead!  Fear is but an illustion and we have the tools and guides to face any challenge if only we look within and ask for help from trusted friends, including our friends in nature.  This took nine hours to complete - I love walking through tree tunnels!

'There was a strange screeching noise in the distance and they both instinctively gripped their precious herbs even tighter.  "Keep thinking positive thoughts, Ruby," Jack Whispered.'

Here Ruby is gripping Elder and Ramsons.  It appears that she is approaching the dark with the trees creating shadows in the dark tunnel, but in actual fact, she is protected by the herbs and trees.  An elder tree branch reaches down to mirror Ruby's clutched elder flowers like a gentle kiss of elderflower champagne.

I added fungus that would be around in May and whose names are relevant to the story.  False Death cap on Beech, Chicken of the Woods found on Oak, Willow and Yew, Wood Ears on Elder, ink cap found on the sides of paths, Deadly Fibre Cap found on Beech and Dryads Stump (Dryad being the general name for a tree spirit).  A great online resource for fungi and wild foods is Wildfooduk. If in doubt, leave it out - you must be 100% sure of what you are picking before you eat anything picked in the wild.  I like to say 'don't pick, kick or lick mushrooms' they are doing amazing work for the Earth!

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