It was a beautiful Sunday morning in late autumn, and Thanksgiving was just around the corner. The sun was shining. Winter was coming soon, so Sandy, Gabby, Bailey, and I went hiking at Glover Archbold Park. The trees had almost no leaves, and the woods looked exceptionally bright. The stream was slow. It was just a little trickle. First, we walked on the path where we usually go, the one that Bailey likes. Excited, she jumped into the water to get wet and chased squirrels to tease them. Bailey had gotten more and more excited. We were also happy. We talked about our Thanksgiving plan to enjoy family time. Suddenly, Bailey stopped running and barking. She raised her ears, concentrated, and listened. For a short time, she ran out of our sight. She disappeared! Bailey had not returned for a long time. We started to worry and called her. No response! We called louder and louder but were still waiting for an answer. We had to leave the path and go toward where Bailey disappeared. We were getting further and further away from the track. We went deep into the forest where we never went. But we did not see Bailey’s figure. We were so worried! Gabby put her finger to her mouth and eyed Sandy and me to signal us to be silent. We always called Gabby elephant ears, so we knew she must have heard something. We stopped walking and remained silent. Then, we heard the faint sound of music, and we crept closer. The sound of music became louder and louder, and then we saw an unbelievable miracle in the deep woods; two young people were playing music.
The girl had long, straight black hair and bright eyes behind long black lashes. She wore a red sweater dress. She was beautiful. She played the saxophone. The boy had blond hair and was wide-eyed. He played a drum set. They were so absorbed that they didn’t notice our intrusion. It wasn’t a miracle; the miracle was the audience of this concert. There were various beautiful, gorgeous, and colorful birds. Sometimes, when they shook their wings, the rain seemed to wet their feathers. There were different squirrels in the trees. There were rabbits, grouses, deer, coyotes, and foxes under the trees, along with our Bailey. All of them had fallen into a hypnotic trance. All of them were very quiet and absorbed, listening to the beautiful music. What a glorious scene this was! So we sat down and listened together. I didn’t know what the boy and girl were playing, and I thought the music must be about the forest. Because the theme was gentle and slow, we felt like we were in a dark forest. I heard the singing of wood insects, one or two voices of frogs, and an unnamed bird’s gu gu sound from their dreams. Then I saw fireflies flying. I saw the tree fairies, the grass fairies, the flower fairies, and all of the fairies in the forest dancing. We were like those animals who had fallen into a dream state and became lost in the woods. They stopped for about half an hour. During that time, we woke up from the dream. The musicians and all the animals, including Bailey, saw us. Bailey ran to us; the other animals ran away because we were strangers. We talked to the musicians, who told us they were lovers and students at American University, which was close to our neighborhood. They told us that they often came here to play music. At first, they had played at their apartment, but that disturbed their neighbors, who complained about them. So they had to find a place where no one lived. After a while, they discovered that more and more animals liked to listen to them play. Their animal audiences grew and grew. Now they come here to play music to animals almost every weekend. The young boy told us they didn’t like humans disturbing their animal friends, so they hoped we would keep the secret. We promised! Then, they led us out of the forest. When we finally found our car, it was dark. In the car, I thought about how unique the experience was. Music could quell the animals’ fear, stop them from hurting each other, and make the world quiet and peaceful. Before, I often heard people say, “Music without borders!” Now, music is also without physical borders!
