The Fox and the Secret Glow-Worm Glade – A Silbenwald Story

That morning, Silbenwald was extraordinarily still. A soft mist lay like a warm blanket between the ancient trees, and the little lanterns on the trunks were still glowing faintly, even though the sun had already risen. Fielo the fox stepped out of his den, stretched himself from nose to tail-tip, yawned one long and satisfied yawn, and lifted his nose to the air. He could smell damp moss and tree bark — and something else. Something sweet and secret, something he had never smelled before. Fielo's golden eyes went wide. He simply had to find out where that scent was coming from.

Fielo trotted along the narrow forest path with his nose held high. On either side, thick ferns unfurled their fronds, and dewdrops sparkled on every leaf like the tiniest of stars. Then he heard a cheerful crunching sound above him. Fippa the squirrel was perched on a branch, working her way through a hazelnut, her great bushy tail bobbing happily to and fro. Fielo called up to her: "Fippa, have you smelled anything unusual this morning?" Fippa set down her nut and gave a thoughtful sniff with her little pink nose. "Mmm," she said slowly, "something sweet — but I can't quite say what it is."

Fippa leapt lightly from the branch and landed beside Fielo on the soft forest floor. The two of them decided to follow the mysterious scent together. The path led them deeper into Silbenwald, where the trees grew closer and the lanterns hung more densely, bathing everything in a warm golden shimmer. Then they heard a gentle snoring. Tucked behind a mossy stone, Balduin the badger was fast asleep, his paws folded neatly over his round belly and his striped snout tilted just slightly into the air. Fippa stifled a giggle. "Perhaps Balduin will know something," she whispered.

Fielo placed a paw softly on Balduin's shoulder. Balduin grumbled, snuffled, and eventually opened one small brown eye. "Oh, Fielo," he murmured, "up and about already?" Fielo explained about the sweet scent. Balduin sat up, took several long and thoughtful sniffs, and then nodded slowly. "I know that smell," he said in his low, steady voice. "That is the blossom scent of the Glow-Worm Glade." He paused and furrowed his brow. "But the glade is said to lie somewhere deep in the heart of Silbenwald. I have never been there myself." The three friends looked at one another, eyes bright with curiosity.

They had not gone far when a quiet rustling came from a pile of leaves nearby. Piek the hedgehog unrolled himself and blinked up at them with his small dark eyes. "Where are you three off to?" asked Piek. The little spines on his back gleamed in the lantern light. Fielo explained everything from the beginning. Piek's eyes grew wide — and then they lit up with delight. "The Glow-Worm Glade!" He rubbed his tiny paws together eagerly. "I've heard of it — my grandmother told me about it. It's said to lie in the very heart of Silbenwald, hidden behind three ancient oak trees. Come on, I know the way."

Piek led the group along a narrow track carpeted with soft moss. The deeper they went into Silbenwald, the quieter and warmer the forest became. Mist drifted in gentle veils around the trunks, and every now and then a single glow-worm flickered amongst the ferns, as though it were lighting the way just for them. Fielo stopped to watch one tiny light with wondering eyes — it almost seemed to wave. "Come on," called Piek from up ahead, "we're nearly there." Fippa sprang from stone to stone in excitement, and Balduin ambled along behind with a calm and contented smile.

And then they saw them — three enormous ancient oaks, their branches woven together so tightly overhead that they formed a great arching gateway of green. Beyond it, something glowed: a soft, steady, golden light. Fielo stepped through the archway first, and the sight that met him made him hold his breath. A perfectly round glade, like a full moon laid upon the earth, was covered in tiny flowers of white and yellow. And everywhere — on every blade of grass, on every leaf — glow-worms were resting in their hundreds, still sleeping, their gentle light pulsing slowly and peacefully, like a heartbeat. The whole glade shone like a living lantern.

Fielo, Fippa, Balduin, and Piek stood in silence and simply marvelled. Nobody spoke. The sweet scent was all around them now — the blossom of the meadow flowers woven together with the warm glow of the sleeping glow-worms, making that one entirely particular Silbenwald smell. Then a quiet clearing of a throat came from above. On the highest branch of the middle oak sat Grandmother Elder the owl, her golden eyes half-closed. "I knew you would arrive here today," she said, in a voice as calm as still water. "This glade has been here since the very beginning of Silbenwald. Those who follow it with an open heart — it always leads them home."

Grandmother Elder invited them all to sit down in the glade. Fielo lowered himself carefully into the flowering grass. Fippa curled up beside him, Balduin leant back contentedly against a smooth stone, and Piek nestled into a small bed of moss at the edge of the clearing. One by one, the glow-worms began to wake, rising in soft circles around the four friends — quiet, golden dances that knew no hurry whatsoever. Fielo felt his shoulders grow heavy and warm, felt the golden light fill him gently from the inside out. Above them all, Grandmother Elder hummed an old Silbenwald melody — barely audible, but deep and deeply comforting.

Later, when the sun was high above Silbenwald, Fielo and his friends made their way slowly home. Nobody spoke very much, and that was the most beautiful kind of quiet there is. Fielo carried the warmth of the glade inside his chest like a gift. He knew, without a single doubt, that he would come back — and that next time he might bring someone else along. On the path home, every lantern on every trunk seemed to burn just a little more brightly than before. Or perhaps it was simply the glow-worm light, still shining in Fielo's golden eyes. In Silbenwald, some things were just like that.