The Underneath

A small calico cat, abandoned by her owners, walks from the road she was left on into the forest. She feels lonely and forlorn. Finding an abandoned nest on the ground, she curls up in it. She’s pregnant and purrs to her unborn kittens.

A mile away stands an enormous pine tree, which was more than 1,000 years old when it was struck by lightning in a storm 25 years earlier. This killed the tree, but it still stands. Trees have long memories of the storms of years gone by.

This area of the forest is called Little Sorrowful Creek.

Under the roots of the dead pine tree is a jar containing an ancient creature. The jar is becoming loosened from among the tangled roots.