I was a little sad to take down the huge old beech, a wolf tree three times as large as anything else around. Most likely, it stood there when the woods were fields—a marker between properties or just a spot for the cows to graze out of the sun—and it had remained after the farmers left and the fields gave way to forest once again. It seemed a shame, somehow, to cut it down, but it was dying, and besides, a tree that size was worth more than a cord of firewood.
By the next winter I had it cut, stacked, and dried inside my shed, but it was buried near back, behind three other rows, and it wasn’t until January that I’d burned enough of the other wood to actually get at it. That’s when a strange thing started happening.
At first I thought that it was just an illusion to find that the stacks reduced day by day and for each day the stack used to be a little lower than the prior day. I wondered if someone used to steal the logs every night. I also thought that why would someone steal such a underrated thing like wood . Then I myself answered the question that it was harsh winters and there must be some lazy people who don't want to work during winter but want to rest throughout these days in the luxury of the heat of my woods . I also asked the moon if it had seen someone stealing the logs of wood , but the moon was silent ; may be I thought he would have freezed due to winters .
I decided to confront the thief the next night . I caught him the next night. I stayed up late, waiting inside until full dark, then pulling on my coat and boots to go stand guard. It was cold enough that the snow squeaked. The stars were knife-sharp. I waited with my hands stuffed in my pockets, shivering and feeling foolish. I was about to head inside when I heard him coming, huffing and cursing and muttering as he made his way up out of the woods, struggling through the deep drifts toward my shed.
I was astounded to see a goblin there which I had never seen before but heard about . They weren't supposed to be real but still I saw it greenish in colour , long pointed brown ears and knobbly fingered not even taller than my knees . He climbed over the stacked logs with great difficulty but managed to reach out to the highest log and pushed it down and ultimately fell down along with the log . I couldn't control myself and I laughed out louder as it was a really humorous thing . The goblin gave a look here and there as he heard me laughing , however I managed to hide behind the bush . In fact I was there to confront the their but the goblin had shifted my interest . I was keen to know what the goblin did with the logs of wood he used to steal every night. With great difficultly the goblin picked the log over his narrow yet strong shoulders and walked.
He started walking to his way and I started following him in the moonlight . The goblin was so determined with his work that he couldn't even notice that somebody followed him . He walked through some sunflower fields which I had never been to . Further he walked into a forest which was familiar to me where I used ti often go to get wood and other forest products . The forest was too huge and my legs had started paining . However the goblin did not get exhausted except that he dropped the log twice but managed to carry it again . After crossing the whole huge forest , he started to climbing . I lost my bearings for a while, but when we finally started climbing up a gradual hill, all at once I knew exactly where we were. And I knew where we were going.
The same place where the old beech stood . I could also see a round huge wooden table covered by snow which was nothing but the stump of the old beech which I had left uncut . I could see dozen of woods stacked beneath the stump in some form of scaffolding . I could see everything from the woods that the goblin went there with the log of wood and placed it over the earlier earned logs . Yes , I would say earned because I no more saw him as a thief and thought that there might be some valid reason behind the goblin's act.
The next night again I stood at the same place to map if the goblin did the same again . And yes it did the same , took a log of wood to the hill and I simply followed him . But this time I didn't stop near the woods but approached him and asked him in a bold voice , " Why are your stealing mh woods?" He turned and replied calmly , " Your woods ? Killing someone doesn't make it yours , even if it's a tree ! " . " But it was old and was of no use " , I defended myself . The goblin again , " Of no use how could you decide that ? It was of great use to them (pointing at the ground) , those buried under the ground . They are two . She used used to sing sweet songs while working in farms ; even when she was alone and I know it was for me (blushes) . That man he used to cultivate berries .When he went out with a bucket for berries, he always left a bush unpicked. For the birds, he said, but I figured he meant me."
We were quiet for a longer time until I broke the silence and agreed to get all the woods and I don't know why and how did I agree to it , it was something phenomenal . We both slogged all until the midnight until we could stack each and every log of wood there . The woods were so old and dry that even a single match was enough to Kindle them .
We sat on the stump—it was wide enough to hold the both of us—and watched the sparks fly up, small as the stars, but hot enough to burn.
“What were their names?” I asked, gazing into the fire.
“Leave the names alone,” the goblin snapped.
I turned to him, taken aback. “I thought I might place a gravestone here, now that the tree is gone.”
“What they need a gravestone for?” He gestured with a gnarled hand. “They got a fire.”
“But a fire . . .” I said, shaking my head. “It’s so short.”
He looked at me, then held his twiggy hands out to the flame. “But it’s warm.”
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