Tumbling and playing amongst the trees of Hindhede forest, the Wildcats Wednesday children of Forest School Singapore, ventured onto the lookout point of Hindhede Quarry.
They played with the vines they found along the way, trying different cordages and ways to tie their coaches up.
At the railing of the lookout point, they saw an old uncle, quietly looking out into the crystal blue lake of the quarry.
He tilted his head to look at the terrapins and fishes that swam close to the side of the lake. They seemed like they were waiting for something…
Instinctively, the children went to the side of the uncle, watching in the same direction as he was.
The children wanted to throw their snack into the lake, curious and intrigued by the feeding reaction of the animals.
The uncle gently turned to the children and said, “How about we drop them the figs from the tree by the lake, the food would be more closely in sync with the animals than our processed food”.
The children didn’t fully comprehend what the uncle said, but they were curious, as the uncle bent down slowly, picked a fig on the ground, and dropped ít into the water. The behaviour of the fishes and terrapins in the waters intrigued the children.
The children immediately spread out across the lookout platform looking for the dropped fig.
They gathered a bunch and started to drop them into the water. When there were a few left, they broke apart some of the fig to continue their exploration.
After a good 10 minutes, there was no fig on the floor anymore.
Some of the kids went away to continue their own play and activities. 2 of them (Yisheng & Yiling) stayed by the side of the uncle and said, “Uncle there isn’t any more fig here, how can we find more?”.
Uncle once more turned gently to them, and said, “Maybe if you ask sincerely from the tree, she will drop you some”.
Yisheng and Yiling, turn towards the fig tree by the lake. The fig tree was so tall and majestic, she stood over the children like a giant to dwarfs. They closed their eyes, stretched out both their hands, akin to when monks receive alms.. They said, “Dear tree, can we have more figs?”
“POP, POP !”
Two figs fell into their hands. Yiling and Yisheng were so excited, they took their gifts and went to the lake, to drop them once more into the water.
The uncle nodded his head, and smiled. He knew that these children had the magic of the forest in their heart. He quietly walked away into the trails behind, as Yiling and Yisheng continued on with their moment…
Written by: Darren Quek
Edited by: Genevieve
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