The Forest of Plenty - I

Once upon a time a boy named Luke put his head in a book and never came out.

“This isn’t fair!” said his father. “That boy has got to deal with life head-on! Just like the rest of us!”

“Which book did he hide in?” asked his mother. “I need to know it’s a place where he can get a proper supper.”

“It’s this one,” said his eighth grade teacher.

Miss Marigold held out a copy of Jonathan Sloane’s Forest of Plenty.

“Damn it all!” said his father. “I thought I warned him not to read that book! It’s on the forbidden list!”

“Oh, quit your exclaiming,” said Luke’s mother. “You’re frightening Miss Marigold.”

“I didn’t know he was reading a forbidden book,” said Miss Marigold. “I only know it was on his desk when he disappeared. It was the darndest thing. One minute I see him sitting there reading. And the next thing I notice are his sneakers.”

“His sneakers?” said Luke’s father.

“Yes. They were upside down and hovering over the open book on his desk. Then he was gone. Whoosh! Pulled in through the pages. I went over and picked up the book. It sure didn’t seem any heavier, considering what just fell into it. I even turned it upside down and shook the pages. Nothing. He was gone.

When Luke hit the forest floor he opened his eyes and saw Miss Marigold’s enormous head looking down at the illustration into which he had fallen. She hadn’t noticed him among all that greenery. He had worn his favored cargo pants and t-shirt to school that day. Both were camouflage green.

Be prepared. That was the Boy Scout motto. Luke held the rank of Tenderfoot. He’d have a few ranks to go before making Eagle Scout, and he thought this little adventure would give him the confidence to succeed.

The Forest of Plenty caused a major stir when it was released in December of 1968. Its author Jonathan Sloane had literally written himself into the book.

When Mr. Sloane’s literary agent had originally presented a publisher with book one of the Forest of Plenty, they couldn’t be more pleased. Then, after the book had gone through some re-writes, she handed over the finished product.

”What do you mean there may not be a book two?” said the publisher. ”He signed a contract that stated he would give us three books in the Forest of Plenty series.”

“It seems he has now written himself into the book,” said the agent. “He created his own world in that forest and has taken his manuscripts for books two and three with him.”

“How very clever,” said one of the publisher’s assistants. “It says here in the preface, To the ones who make their way into the Forest of Plenty I congratulate you. But your journey has only begun. If you have made it into these pages, that means you have finished reading book one and have figured out what you need to know in order to find me. If and when you do, I will hand over the manuscript and we will all have a good laugh!”

“Clever?" said the publisher. “If clever means out of his mind, then, yes, it’s the most clever thing ever!"

They refused to publish the book until some signs of books two and three were presented.

After a year had gone by with no sign of the author or the manuscripts, the publisher sued the literary agent and the estate of Mr. Sloan for breach of contract.

Soon after that the literary agent, Lillian Jenkins, found a small publishing house in her home town of Cold Spring, NY that was willing to publish the book in a limited edition. It’s first run of a hundred copies sold out fast. So did the second and third editions. Then the trouble started.
The major stir occurred when a great many of the village children unraveled the mystery and found their way into the book; never to return.

The book was soon banned as a public nuisance and was mostly forgotten.

Now, almost forty five years since its release, Jonathan Sloane and some of the village children are still among the missing, and The Forest of Plenty is once again making news.

Luke was still on his back when he saw the enormous head of Miss Marigold look away from the illustration in the book. Then all went black.