"There is a big big black bear!!!" Peter, our host dad, looked kind of really serious.
We three glanced at each other, quite doubtfully as we were going to enjoy our first dinner in London :fish and chips, eh, a bit of English.
But the 'black bear' story haunted from the beginning.
"Don't trust him. He was just kidding." smiled Ann, our Mom. However, Peter was a good actor. "No! There is one! About this height and this big!" and then he stood up, raised his arm over his leg as if he had met the 'bear' long before. We smiled spontaneously and Peter, seemingly knowing that his little trick was uncovered, quickly sat down and made faces to us.
Whether there is a really a black bear or not, the endless woods not far behind our house was an appeal, an appeal that was enthralling to us who never got the chance to live that near to nature. According to Ann, the woods has nothing special: there are no tigers, no bears, no peacocks, no gorgeous flowers or birds, no sunshine and no human. But all these 'no' added to our 'yes' when she asked if we would like to go with Peter one evening to the mysterious woods.
When that evening arrived we grasped our coat and the chance and hurried outside just in case that the sun might fail to welcome us. We were lucky. London never sleeps. It's a city where evenings begin at 8pm. So we followed Peter, made a few turns and then, the woods was in front of us, silent and still as if there is a castle with a magician or a prince in it.
The ground was wet and muddy. How strange this is because there has been no rain for a week! Nevertheless the thick leaves and branches as we saw stepping up convinced me that here is an ideal tourist attraction for the Cullen family. It was a bit of difficult to climb up mountains with no stairs as I almost slipped for a few times and we have to be really careful about what was on our way: it can be a section of branch or trunk; it can be a stone covering with mud; it can be a pit filled with water or it can be a beaten track. What's more, no sounds except the footsteps and breath could be heard. It was utterly silent at the moment but Peter told me that there were pigeons and parrots in the woods. All of a sudden, a strange sound aroused, odd enough to remind me of some kind of frogs. 'That's the parrot', Peter said 'They moved here several weeks ago. Maybe they want to find a home or evade the coldness.'
We went on aimlessly. Peter had seldom been in the woods so he was not a good guide Even so, he told us the history of the woods: the woods had been larger than it was. With the development and the expansion of the suburban areas, the woods diminished. When Peter moved here, there were only pigeons but now there are parrots and other kinds of birds, even foxes. 'Foxes!!!' I cried with surprise. Never in my life had I seen a fox before. Instantly I regained the energy to continue my walk, eyes eagerly searching in the woods, hoping to have a glimpse of the fox. In a moment, we were heading down but no fox appeared.
"Don't worry. You will see it someday." Peter smiled.
As we approached the foot of the woods, a cyclist came in sight. He waved hello to us and then passed. I began to wonder. Why would this man, in times of relax and fun, give up TV and cycle in the remote woods? I didn't ask because I somehow felt that speaking in the woods was a taboo. No one was allowed to break the silence here. When we returned, I accidentally found the reason for the silence. There was a graveyard with hundreds of gravestones inside. On the large tracks of grass, gray limestone along with yellow or white flowers conveyed a sense of reverence, a sense of gloominess. The road we went down was named 'cemetery road' which scared me a bit because in China we seem never to use such unlucky name but I was in London and I should respect their respect to the past.
So the adventure ended. It was the only real adventure we faced in the whole 14 days in London. We had tour guides planning for our trip. We had classes in schools. We had wifi and TV in our house. Yes we have been to many places of interest: Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, British Museums and so on but none can compare to the whole silence and dimness of the adventure in the woods. Though there was nothing to see, nothing to take photos, nothing to buy in a souvenir shop, I can sense London, feel it as if it has been so familiar but turned to be so strange.
