Tirra Lirra meets Snow White

Tirra Lirra looked around her as she moved slowly through the towering trees. It was dim in the forest as she followed the trail through the dense trees. She was unable to see far ahead because of the twists and turns in the trail and the closeness of the tree trunks.

Every now and then she stopped and went over to one of the mighty trees to run her hands over the deeply creviced bark and smell the needle leaves.

She heard faint echoes of a song drifting through the moist air in this condensed mass of trees and she slipped off the path behind a tree. The echoes quickly grew into a lilting tune carried by several voices. A group of feet tramped smartly along the path as Tirra stood without moving. She heard one of the feet pause and held her breath, but a moment later the group moved off still singing their simple tune.

Tirra waited a while before she stepped back onto the path and continued on her way through this strange place.

In a little while, she came to a clearing in the forest where there was a neat cottage beside a little stream. Again she heard singing - this time it was a woman's voice. Tirra paused behind a tree trunk and surveyed the scene. Someone was moving around inside the house, singing intermittently. Sometimes a child's voice joined in the singing.

After a while, a small girl ran out the door across to the stream. In a moment, her mother was behind her. Tirra smiled to see how much alike they were - dark hair framed pale faces with pink cheeks. The mother filled a pot with water while the child dabbled in the stream.

Tirra rustled the dry pine needles with her feet and moved out into the clearing. When she was half way across it, she called out, 'Hello there!'

Mother and daughter looked up.

Tirra went to the stream, bent gracefully over the water and began to scoop some up to her mouth.

'I'm Annabelle,' said the little girl, 'who are you?'

Tirra knelt down and looked into Annabelle's blue eyes, 'I'm Tirra Lirra,' she replied her brown eyes smiling.

'Why have you come here?' asked Annabelle's mother, pushing her dark hair back over her pale shoulder and looking intently at Tirra.

'To see the trees,' Tirra replied looking up at the ones towering around them. 'and everything that lives in the forest. I haven't seen forest like this before. You are lucky to live here.'

A morning breeze played about them as they paused by the stream.