The whisper of the mountain.

It was a good day to go hunting, I needed meat so it was best to get out as fast as I could. I headed towards the mountains, perhaps there was more opportunity than down there at the foot of the mountain.

On the way there I stocked up on berries, they are always good when supplies run out. Found these red berries that I never saw before, but they had to pass quality control first so I waited for the birds to eat them to know if they are good for me too. In the meanwhile I’ll wait here sitting and resting, before I start to climb the side of this mountain. The day is still beginning, it’s clear and I have a lot of time.

There are the birds, they eat the berries happily, so they're good for me. I take some of them, and eventually move on. I climbed the mountain little by little until I reached a kind of flattened top, but I still had a long path to follow. It was then that I saw the mist, it’s thick but I decide to continue climbing because I have no other choice. Once I go through the whole landscape begins to look different, as if it was shape shifting. Is it greener or are the heights going to my head? I'll rest a bit… I eat some dried fruit and remember the berries, they are very sweet, it is a new flavor but it’s not unpleasant. I'll keep that in mind for when I go down and bring some home. About 30 minutes of rest is enough and I begin climbing through the cold mist.

I already have about an hour walking in this part of the mountain and I still don’t see anything to hunt. Perhaps I shouldn’t have entered that narrow bend to enter this part of the mountain, I think it was a bad decision to come so far from home to find nothing. It’s already dusk, but then I hear noises, a soft murmur out there in the mist. I see clearer now, and in the distance I see people. Am I dreaming? They seem to be celebrating a ritual of sorts.

They’re all dressed in long white robes, both men and women and children. Nobody seems surprised that I am here and nobody looks at me, they are all happy. Some are sitting on the ground next to a tree just touching the other's hair, others are very close to a river crossing a part of the mountain plateau. Someone suddenly screams, a woman that the current of the river carries down. She doesn't seem to know how to swim but nobody moves and they just look at her and hear her scream so I threw myself into the river and managed to get her out of there.

It's… weird but this girl has very dilated pupils and just looks at me. Once I arrive on the river bank she stops looking at me and I ask her what happened to her. To which she replies… “I fell into the river when I was chasing butterflies” almost instantly, she saw a butterfly and went after her, without saying anything else.

When I could go back to looking at the others, no one was watching me rescue the girl, but everyone kept doing the same thing they did before the girl fell into the water. Some eat fruits from the surrounding trees, others eat berries and some carry baskets where they place part of the fruits that I imagine they collected along the way.

I speak to them and ask them what’s happening in this place? Why does everything feel like a dream? But they just smile at me and continue what they do nothing, absolutely nothing but laugh. My curiosity tells me I have to find out.

I hear a sound, it’s late in the afternoon. It’s something like an elephant’s sound mixed with a howler monkey and I don't know what other noise it reminds me of... but the people here hear it too and stop doing what they were doing to walk all in one direction and I decide to follow them.

They take a narrow path that then widens and reveals some sort of fortress made with wide poles of local trees and with a wide open tree-wood door, inviting them to enter through it. They all do and so do I.

Inside it is like a large cabin, with a very high ceiling, with tree branches arranged in a very orderly way, so that it covers the spaces very well, there is nothing left in the open.

All of them are now fixing something, as if everyone knows what to do and where to keep the place in good condition.

Someone closed the doors after passing the last person walked and we were all inside this fortress, protecting ourselves from the forces of nature because night is already falling.

 Some are preparing to light a large fire, and now they are all gathered around and I hear again the murmur I heard when I arrived, a soft song that everyone begins to sing and again everyone does nothing. Some fix their hair, others gently caress their skin, others show their physical love, but all are again as if submerged in a dream.

Then I can see some people who come closer, they are the oldest, they look at me and realize that I am different, but they are friendly and they smile at me. I join them and salute them.

“Hello, my apologies for coming to their place but I only followed because no one seems to care that I am here" To which the oldest of them told me “Hello stranger, you are welcome. No one had ever penetrated our part of this mountain, if you come in peace you receive our peace."

… ”Of course I come in peace. I went into these mountains to bring some hunt to my house but I think I went through inhospitable places and I met the group. I think they live in their world, I don't want to interfere, I just need rest and tomorrow I'll go back to my job." The oldest of them answered me "And so it will be”

Then they withdrew and brought some baskets of berries, the same ones I found down at the foot of the mountain. They placed the berry baskets at the foot of the groups surrounding the campfire. They all approached consuming the berries and making the soft whisper with their voices, very happy, being friendly. They invited me with gestures to approach the great fire and so I did, I ate the berries and then...

 I woke up, it’s morning, early morning. But… it’s strange. I’m sitting in the same place where I found the berries and where I started to eat them. I only remember that I ate them after seeing the birds do it and I sat for a moment I’m in the same place as yesterday morning, when I started to climb this mountain, or maybe… it’s not a yesterday? Ugh, this is strange.

Did I actually go up the mountain? Did I meet that group of strangers? Or was it all my imagination?

Wait, do these berries induce hallucinations? Everything is very clear in my mind, but I’m still here at the foot of the mountain. Or maybe someone left me here while I was sleeping…

I don't know, I don't know… this seems disturbing to me. I better throw these berries away, I won't eat them anymore and I'm not going up this mountain either. It's like she doesn't want me to go up. I’ll continue up this slope and go hunting elsewhere… it gives me chills to think if this actually happened or not.

And so he continued on his way, in search of his hunt, but now through the forest, not climbing the mountain.

Meanwhile far, far away, on the top of the mountain, sounds like a soft melody. It’s a soft whisper that is lost in the immensity of the mountain…