In the Heart of the Forest

By Greg Wray and Sandy Winnette

In the heart of the forest during a
holiday winter long ago, Beth made her
snow angel and a special wish! When
winter ends and the snow melts, Beths
angel travels from spring to summer and
then to fall adventures. Be there when
the angel returns for the first snow in
the heart of the forest. An enchanting
storybook filled with dreams,
imagination and wonder.

www.thespiritualgarden.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jun 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781504355971

Greg Wray

The author, Sandy Winnette, writes metaphysical stories for children. She is a tarologist in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has taught self-help classes for years. Follow her writing and teaching on www.thespiritualgarden.com Greg Wray is a freelance illustrator with over twenty-five years of experience in all forms of visual communication. His rendering of licensed characters for The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. and many other well known licenses have been a part of all of our lives.

Book preview

In the Heart

of the Forest

Sandy Winnette

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Copyright © 2016 Sandy Winnette.

Artist Greg Wray

Editor Cathy Scofield

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-5598- 8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-5597-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016906575

Balboa Press rev. date: 06/08/2016

Contents

Winter -- The Beginning

Little Beth's Christmas Dream

Little Beth and the Snow Angel Greet Spring

The Snow Angel's Adventures at Sea

The Heart Of the Forest

About the Author

In%20the%20Heart%20of%20the%20Forest.jpg

Winter -- The Beginning

Welcome To Forest Manor

A very long time ago, there was a girl named Beth who lived with her mother and father in a house called Forest Manor.

Forest Manor was a large house with many rooms. There were round, white pillars on the front porch and stables for the horses and buggies. Many people worked at Forest Manor. Little Beth was often seen sitting on the front porch waiting for her father's horse and buggy to come down the winding road. She would run to greet him, he would open the carriage door and she would climb into the fancy buggy with her father. She knew he always had a special present for her: a doll from a faraway place.

Little Beth's mother would greet them both at the door, her golden hair braided and pulled back away from her face. She was an artist. Often she was covered with dabs of paint as she smiled and greeted her husband. She and Little Beth both loved to listen to his stories about faraway places.

Forest Manor sat on a hill overlooking a meadow and woods. On sunny days, forest animals would often peek through the trees and see Beth's mother painting while Little Beth played in the courtyard. Her mother would say, Little Beth, never go into the forest alone.

Yes, Mama, the little girl would reply, as she watched animals come into the open meadow beyond the courtyard. Little Beth loved the animals and she talked to them. She believed they understood her, and that they often spoke to her in return.

Little Beth's father and mother were very gifted, and had many creative friends. Poets, writers, artists and mystics were often invited to the social parties at Forest Manor. People came from miles around to see Beth's mother's paintings and to hear her father's latest story. Little Beth was taught to appreciate all forms of creativity, and to cherish life and its many gifts.

The Window

L ittle Beth's bedroom was at the top of the wide staircase and her window looked out to the courtyard below, to the open meadow, and beyond that, to the forest itself. In springtime, Beth went to the meadow, sat down, and spread her long, pretty dress around her. She fed the small animals pieces of her bread and jam. Some of them came close enough to take the food directly from her hands.

The cook always gave Beth extra food wrapped in cloth so she could leave it for those animals that were too shy to get their treats from her hand. Later, Beth watched from her bedroom window to see who ate the food that she had left in the meadow below.

On rainy days, Little Beth sat and watched the meadow from her upstairs window. She would press her face against the window trying to see through the raindrops as she talked to her dolls and stuffed animal friends. Her soft, brown bear was named Z-bear. Beth also had many dolls in fine dresses. When Beth went to bed, she had all of her dolls and stuffed animal friends with her. Her play table, chairs and china tea set were always ready for a tea party. She set her favorite dolls, Saundra and Cathline, at the table with Z-bear and they would all have afternoon tea. Little Beth would then 'read' her own storybooks to her friends, either the story her mother had read her last night, or a story that Little Beth had created. It was always a well mannered gathering.

The meadow flowers of summer eventually gave way to fall and Little Beth was seen running, skipping, and chasing the red and yellow leaves. The leaves spun around and twirled high into the air. She gathered the leaves in a basket for the crafts she and her mother made during the winter months.

Colder days followed and the winds blew cold and hard. Wood burning fireplaces kept the house warm, but there was always a slight chill in the air. Sweaters and bonnets helped Beth to stay warm along with the aromas of the food prepared in the kitchen. Little Beth's mother made holiday wreaths and painted angel ornaments and stars. She showed Beth how to make these gifts too. The two of them sat in her mother's studio and made beautiful things for hours and hours. Sometimes a buyer would ask Beth's mother to make something special, maybe with someone's name on it. There were never enough of these beautiful handmade holiday gifts -- no matter how many Beth and her mother made.

During the cold winter, Beth wrapped her dolls in blankets and pretended that they were all real babies. Sometimes, she sat at her bedroom window and watched the deer come out from the thick woods and prance across the snow-covered meadow. She worried if the deer were warm enough and if they had enough food to eat. She would discuss this with Saundra and Cathline over each afternoon's tea party. Z-bear was usually sleeping during these conversations, but Saundra and Cathline were very talkative with Beth about the forest animals.

Little Beth's mother loved the snow and told Beth that her