Silent Forest

Forests are never silent. That's the first thing you learn whenever you go out camping, hiking, or anything else where you might have to pass through or live in a forest.
Forests aren't silent for a good reason. They teem with life, such as birds, insects, and small animals; that's just the life that makes noises. Trees, grass, and bacteria are also bountiful. This, of course, is no secret.
One forest, somewhere just northeast of Manchester, England, is totally silent. People drive past it millions of times per year, but from their car, they can't notice the lack of sound.
Every now and then someone will look at the forest as they sit in traffic. They are convinced that they saw something, but nobody has ever actually seen it.
When the Romans settled and established Manchester, the forest was there. Sentries and soldiers would sometimes skip their duties to go to the forest, and simply never be seen again.
Sometimes raped women would flee from the town into the forest, screaming in terror, only for the soldiers to come to a halt at its edges, and hear her screams stop abruptly. As if she suddenly lost her voice.
Rumors of the forest in Manchester were so rife that at one point, Rome sent priests and elite soldiers into the forest to exorcise it. Bloodstained armor, robes, and a single perfect human eye were found outside Manchester the next morning, somehow having been placed despite the sentries and the night-guard, and placed soundlessly at that.
Rumor also has it that it likes to move sometimes. The road nearby gives it ample options for doing so, which is probably why nobody has heard of it. It was probably considered a myth. A scout party sent in while it was away came out with nothing, and it was forgotten, but it always returns to its home sooner or later, in Manchester.
Ultimately, one thing you must always remember, intrepid traveler, strong-legged hiker, or capable camper: If you ever find yourself in a forest and it becomes totally silent, do not, under any circumstances, move.
Category:Places
Category:Beings
Category:Nature
Category:Historical Archive