📔 Journal Entry – “Whispers in the Brambles”
Location: Granite Falls, Deep Woods Time: Officially Too Late to Pretend This Is Normal
I came here for plants. I swear I came here for plants.
Just some wild herbs, a little forest air, a tent I barely set up correctly. But today the forest showed me something that wasn’t in any of the guidebooks.
And now I’m sitting in my tent, still trying to make sense of it.
Deep in the Bramble
The bramble wall wasn’t supposed to be there. And neither was the... whatever-that-was.
It looked like a shimmer—something shiny peeking out from under a bush. I thought it might be a dropped compass or a weird crystal. So naturally, I reached for it. Because I never learn.
Turns out? Not a crystal. Not even an object.
It was watching me. It was alive.
🐾 The Woodland Monster
It didn’t speak, but I swear I heard it in my head. Like wind through reeds. Like a lullaby I didn’t know I knew.
It didn’t hurt me. Just looked. Studied me. Then it was gone.
The pendant Gran gave me? Warmed again. Stronger this time. Like it recognized the creature. Or maybe the creature recognized me.
Field Notes 📒
🪴 Unidentified Plants Harvested: 8/10
🧪 Status Effects: Still itchy. Now also mildly unhinged.
👤 Fisherman Count: 1 (still creepy)
🪞 Found (??): The Woodland Monster. Possibly imaginary. Definitely magical.
🧭 Current Status: Shaken, not stirred
Unsent Letter to Ivy 💌
Gran— I touched a shimmer in the woods and it looked back. It wasn’t an object. It was... alive. Something ancient. Is this what you meant by “the forest tests those who wander too far”? If so: test acknowledged. Test VERY acknowledged. Please tell Thistle to guard the front door tonight. Love, Sylva 🌙
