The barrenness of the land haunted her. All she could see was the never-ending vastness of white, covering the earth. The trees looked dead; many of the animals were hiding deep within the earth or in caves. It was so cold. Flora shivered. This white death was too much for her - this winter. She shook her body to stave off the cold - it was time. She flew out of her warm tree and zipped across the frozen lake. It was good to feel the wind on her wings, despite the cold. Her wings flapped, she felt them begin to tingle as the cold was replaced with life. Flora breathed her magic into the land, setting spring in motion. The snow started to thaw into life-giving water. Roots of plants began to drink it in, strengthening their hold on the earth and taking in nutrients to grow. Buds began sprouting everywhere... life was returning to the land.
*****************The lush green of the land made Flora’s heart sing. She was out with her friends Squirrel and Stag. Squirrel was hiding herself and waiting to see if Flora and Stag could find and catch her. The crisp smell of a fresh rain lingered in the air. All the animals were venturing out on the lightly breezy day. Everything was wonderful and alive.
********************Flora’s yellow eyes were bright enough to be visible in the pitch black of the cave. She flew around hiding from her butterfly pals. They often played hide and seek throughout the land. There was a glow at the other end of the cave. Forgetting the game, Flora flew off to investigate. Outside of the cave was almost barren, the grass refused to spread on to the land, even with Flora pushing her magic forcibly into the grass... nothing would grow. Confused by this, Flora proceeded with caution.
Flora saw something smouldering inside of a crater. She touched the rock and quickly withdrew her hand. It burned her. Embers were flickering wildly, cutting the earth as they lashed out. One of the embers reached the lush grass at the edge of the crater and ignited it. Before she knew what was happening, Flora was engulfed around the angry fire as it spat and greedily ate at the life of the forest she had so carefully persevered. The fire became enraged and spat its embers at Flora as she was chased out of the area. Flames devoured all signs of life. She was powerless to protect her beautiful forest.
Stag was standing on the mountain which overlooked the area that was now a sea of red angry flames. He saw Flora surrounded by the fire, jumping and dashing up the mountain to get away. Flora saw with horror how fast the fire has spread when she reached the top. But she had no time to stop as flames snaked their way toward her. She scaled a large tree, which was already dead. As she arrived at the top, she saw the forest was just as dead as the tree. Nothing was left but the fire that refused to stop its rampage—and that’s when she thought she died.
*******************Ash fell like snow. The desolate land looked as if nothing would or could ever grow there. Stag sombrely trekked through the debris following the path Flora had taken. He blew on a pile of ash. It swirled slowly, forming into Flora. She was weak, and the colour of the ash. Stag bent down and nudged her with his nose. She needed to get up and tend to the land, but she cradled herself instead. She was distraught from grief. Stag looked at her - pouring his words into her soul, begging her to come with him. Weak and tired, she used his antlers to pull herself onto his head. Stag cantered towards one of Flora’s favourite trees. Her tears were rolling down her cheeks as she rode with him. The tears, full of her life-giving magic and love, rained down on the scorched earth and began to heal it. Plants began shooting forth, trees sprouting leaves, animals running about.
It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life The forest was alive again. Flora beamed with joy. She loved seeing each return from winter to spring, but this was even better, this was a renewal of the land - a rebirthing she never thought was possible. She looked around at her beautiful forest, full of life and knew everything would be alright.
*******************Story by 
Ravens based on Firebird suite by Igor Strawinsky.
“Circle of Life†Music by Elton John, Lyrics by Tim Rice, preformed by Carmen Twillie; The Lion King Copyright Walt Disney 1994.Chibi-Flora by User not found: morgan
Profile & Coding by Ziva
Glade Swampie
