Fippa and Balduin Search for the Silbenberry

The Silbenwald woke up ever so slowly that morning. Soft mist drifted between the old oaks and beeches, and the little lanterns hanging from the branches still glowed in their gentle amber light. Fireflies tumbled sleepily from leaf to leaf, as though they too wished to dream a little longer. In the middle of all this quiet magic sat Fippa on her favourite branch, gazing down into the forest below. Her bushy tail twitched with excitement. Deep in her tummy, Fippa could feel it — today, something wonderful was going to happen.

Fippa scurried down the tree trunk and straight to Balduin's round doorway in the great root-hill. Balduin the badger opened his little wooden door and blinked at her with his kind, warm eyes. The flame of his small lantern glowed from his jacket pocket. "Balduin," Fippa cried, "I dreamt about the Silbenberry last night! The owl once told me it grows somewhere near the Heart Tree and shines like a tiny star." Balduin nodded slowly and smiled his broad, unhurried smile. "Well then," he said in his deep, steady voice, "we had better go and look for it together."

Fippa and Balduin set off deeper into the Silbenwald. Balduin held his little lantern out before him, its light casting round golden circles on the mossy forest floor. The mist floated like cotton wool around their legs, and everywhere dewdrops hung on spiders' webs like strings of tiny pearls. Fippa hopped from stone to stone, humming softly to herself, while Balduin ambled contentedly at her side. "Balduin," asked Fippa, "do you really think the Silbenberry actually glows?" Balduin gave a pleased rumble. "In the Silbenwald," he said, "anything can glow that you search for with your heart."

All at once they heard a soft rustling in the leaves, and then a small, prickly ball rolled out from beneath a bramble bush. It was Piek the hedgehog! Piek had tiny black button eyes that shone with curiosity, and a dry little leaf was still caught on one of his spines. "Where are you two off to?" he asked in his squeaky voice. Fippa excitedly explained all about the Silbenberry. Piek twitched his little nose. "I think," he said carefully, "I spotted something glowing near the old Moss Stone just last evening. Very small, very blue — like a star blinking itself to sleep." Fippa and Balduin exchanged a thrilled glance.

Piek the hedgehog joined the other two, and together the three forest friends tramped onward. Before long they came to a place where thick cushions of moss covered the ground and an ancient, rounded stone rose up from the earth, wrapped in delicate ferns. The stone shimmered with the faintest greenish light, and the fireflies here were more plentiful than anywhere else, dancing in little loops as though trying to show the friends something. "The Moss Stone," whispered Balduin, and he lifted his lantern higher. Fippa's eyes went wide. Right in the heart of the stone, where the ferns grew thickest, something small and blue was glimmering — ever so gently.

Before they could take another step, a soft, dignified clearing of the throat came from high up in the great beech tree. There sat the owl in her fluffy feathered coat, her large amber eyes looking down at the three friends. "Good morning," she called in her warm, round voice. Fippa called up eagerly, "Is that it — is that the Silbenberry?" The owl tilted her head in that thoughtful way of hers. "Yes, Fippa. But the Silbenberry will only show herself to someone who comes quietly and calmly — without pushing, without rushing. You must arrive with a still and peaceful heart."

Fippa took a long, slow breath. Balduin rested one broad, warm paw on her shoulder, and Piek curled himself up into a ball and then uncurled again — his own way of settling himself down, he explained. Then, very slowly and with the softest of footsteps, the three of them walked together towards the Moss Stone. No rustling, no hurrying. Fippa felt her little heart slow down, growing as soft as the moss beneath her paws. And then — the glow grew stronger! A small, round berry, deep blue as the night sky just before the very first star appears, shone gently among the fern fronds. It was the Silbenberry.

At that moment the fox appeared at the edge of the clearing. He had brushed his russet fur until it gleamed and held an acorn in one paw. The fox could be cunning enough in other parts of the wood, but in the Silbenwald he was above all things curious and friendly. "Did I really just see that?" he whispered, full of wonder. "The Silbenberry is glowing!" Fippa nodded proudly. From above, the owl called down gently, "She glows because Fippa, Balduin, and Piek came searching with quiet hearts. That is why she shows herself." The fox simply sat down and looked, and all five forest friends stood together in stillness and marvelled.

The Silbenberry glowed for quite a while, and then, very tenderly, her light went out — like a candle that someone blows out with love. But the little berry stayed there among the ferns, gleaming and blue as a resting jewel. "The Silbenberry glows whenever someone arrives with a peaceful heart," said the owl. "She is the Silbenwald's way of letting you know it sees you." Fippa knelt down and looked at the berry for a long, long moment. It smelled of woodland earth and rain, and somehow also of the most beautiful dream you have ever had.

By the time the sun had climbed higher and the mist had gently lifted, the friends turned for home. Fippa carried a soft, still glow inside her chest — just as blue and calm as the Silbenberry itself. Balduin hummed quietly, Piek pattered along happily beside them, and the fox waved goodbye from the clearing. The owl called out one last time from the beech tree: "Come back soon!" The lantern in Balduin's pocket burned warm and steady, and the fireflies accompanied them a little way along the path. All around them the Silbenwald breathed slowly and deeply — just as it always does when everything is well.