Deep inside the thick forest, untrodden by any human, there was a glade. Although it was nearly midnight, the whole area was lit as if it were daytime. Millions of fireflies made a glittering canopy with beautiful patterns while the scented candles spread their sweet fragrance along with the light. The candlelight reflected on crystal-like frost making them appear as shining clusters of diamonds. All the animals in the forest had awakened from their hibernation to witness this glorious event. Birds were chirping in their sweetest tone as if they mistook the light as the daylight. Long stripes of colorful silk were hung on the branches around the area forming a vivid curtain. A very soothing beautiful sound was coming from the chimes, which were made up of colored snail shells, stripes of quartz and thin rods of crystal when they were shaken slightly by the wind. The floor was decorated with carpets of every color which were made of feathers and fur. Whoever would step on these, might feel as if he was walking on clouds or the softest cotton on earth.
There were two seats arranged to face the glade and were well-lit with scented candles and decorated with twigs and colorful feathers. Trays full of delicious food and jars filled with nectar were placed on a stand made up of twigs in a corner. There was everything there; candles, fragrance, food, nectar, warmth, beauty, all of them were there. The splendor was far beyond being earthly, seemed as if the heaven had fallen upon the earth. The only ones who were fortunate enough to witness this glory were the animals in the forest who were gathered here and there around the place.
It was the first day after winter when the daytime began to grow longer. It was when the first signs of spring began to appear. The deep frost on the ground had begun to get thinner, new buds were starting to emerge from slightly frost-covered branches. The whole forest had awakened to life again after the cold and dark winter. This is the most awaited and most celebrated day by the creatures who live in the forest. Who were the hosts of this magnificent festival? It was none other than these amazing creatures, the spirits of the forest known as 'The Purus'. They were the creatures who were responsible for keeping the balance of the forests.
Thousands of years ago, after making the earth a habitat for living organisms, the angels created special creatures to maintain the balance of life on earth. For this purpose, they created forest spirits, mermaids and fairies as the very first creatures to live on the earth. As they were crucial for the whole balance and existence of life on earth, they were made incapable of change or evolution. Forest spirits were given the responsibility of keeping the balance in the forests while the mermaids were created to maintain the balance in the oceans. Fairies were given the task of keeping the sky and the atmosphere in their best state. All of them are not fictitious beings; they exist for real, even today but are unknown. Precisely, life on earth would be extinct without the existence of these creatures.
The forest spirits could control the rainfall within their territory if the rain was insufficient or in excess. If there were any issues concerning animals or plants, there were separate forest spirits who could intervene. There were some severe issues that they could not control. Even today, although they live secretly and are fewer in number, they contribute to a great extent to protecting and keeping the balance in nature.
In the beginning, these forest spirits and the humans lived in harmony blending well together. As time passed, gradually evil entered the minds of humans. The Purus were entirely pure beings with fine airy bodies just as the name implied and they could not resist the evil which grew in the minds of the humans. They separated themselves from the humans and moved to the forest to live among the animals who were less evil than the humans. Gradually, they moved deep into the forest and the humans completely forgot the existence of the Purus after many generations. They were only remembered as mythical creatures in fairy tales which were related to children by the elders. Humans did not know that these tales were true stories experienced by their ancestors hundreds of generations ago.
Although the Purus possessed very fine airy bodies, they could be seen by the other animals and humans. Some of them had the special ability to make their bodies invisible to the naked eye. They were able to transform by changing the state of matter that their bodies are made of, into a different kind of matter such as air or light. When they had to travel somewhere where there were humans, they used their ability to become invisible and traveled as air or light. Have you ever wondered about seeing mysterious floating lights of different colors on dark nights when you are silently wandering? Yes, they are the forest spirits who travel in secret when the world is asleep.
When describing their appearance, they are similar to humans in size and basic structure except that some of them had wings that can be hidden whenever they wanted. The forest spirits were very different from each other due to their complexion, hair color and their clothes. Their hair were colorful by nature and they wore vivid clothes made up of material that were found naturally in the forest such as silk from the cocoons, seasoned flower petals and leaves, threads from spiders' webs, feathers from birds and fur and leather from mammals.
Hundreds of miles away from this forest where the decorated glade was located, the clocks rang the midnight bell in the villages. At that very moment in the forest, heavenly music that was sweet enough to make someone insane appeared just beyond the festive area. Along with the music, many floating lights of different colors approached there conveying that it was time to commence the glorious festival.