A chilly autumn day, a young boy is walking home from school. His name is Beckett and he is feeling anxious about his poetry homework inside his backpack. He finds a walking stick, kick-step, kick-step, on his way home.

The white pointed fence is the entrance to the dark woods. He has permission to take the shortcut through the forest, yet every school day he finds himself afraid to make that choice. Frustrated with himself, he kicks his walking stick.

The bullies at school torment him with terrifying tales of murderous Mudmen who live in the woods. The Mudmen, the bullies claim, hide in the shadows to catch children and eat their souls!

Beckett stops at the white pointed fence, takes one last peek into the woods, then scoots past the gate taking the sidewalk, the long way home.

Sitting at his desk in his room, Beckett gazes out the open window. Eventually falling asleep, Becketts head is resting heavily on the pages of the poetry book, which is opened to a poem called “Now Close the Windows.” (“Now Close the Windows” is sung by a woman, reflected as Mother Nature or Beckett’s mother.)

He is now in the deepest of dreams. It’s the kind of dream where the sky’s the limit and sometimes there’s no floor!

In his dream, Beckett arrives at the white pointed picket fence wanting to confront his fears.

The woods beyond it are dark and threatening, and the bullies' words echo in his mind. “Keep away from the woods! The mudmen will catch you and eat your soul!”

A strange figure appears in front of him. Beckett leaps back and flails away with his trusty stick. “Back, Mudman,” he cries, “You can’t have my soul!” He flails forward with his stick to no avail. Crash!

On closer examination, Beckett realizes the stranger is not a Mudman at all, but an unusually tall fire hydrant! His lucky stick is broken into pieces and scattered all over the road.

Feeling the loss of his trusted stick, Beckett makes a pressured choice. “I’m going into the woods to get myself a NEW STICK!”

Beckett braves his way into the dark woods with new purpose, but persisting trepidation. It’s dark and cold in there.

Suddenly, a dust of light, fluffy snow lands on Becketts head. He looks up and sees a crow has landed on a snowy branch above. The crow speaks! “You’re intense! Relax a little”.

As Beckett watches the bird flying away, something fantastic happens. Letters begin floating out from behind the trees, making words in the sky and landing on white branches all around him.

“The Dust of Snow” sung by the boy.

Beckett forgets all about looking for a new stick or how frightened he had been. Instead, he looks all around, taking in the beauty of stunning birch trees and the soft, fluffy texture of the snow-covered ground.

At the beckoning of the crow above, Beckett follows the bird deeper into the woods. Beckett dances around in the trees, flapping his arms and pretending to fly. He swings the trees!

Birches poem recited.

As Beckett swings through the trees, he notices an Old Man sitting on a tree stump at the fork in the path.

Beside him is a perfect cane that the Old Man made out of a long stick, just like the one Beckett has always dreamed of. Beckett’s pure joy has reminded the old man of his own days as a young boy swinging in the trees.

The old man sings, “Nothing Gold can Stay”

To the boy, Nature's first green is gold….

Beckett asks - “Are you a mudman?”

The man smiles back: 'Maybe I am, and maybe I’m not. But that's not important. What is important is that you understand your soul cannot be stolen from you. It's who you are! Your choices make YOU ‘YOU’.

When I was young, even though I was scared, I found this place. I come here from time to time to remind myself who I am. What makes me ‘me’."

Smiling, Beckett takes the walking stick offered bay the old man.. These two have an understanding. The man carefully takes a very old piece of paper from his other pocket and hands it to Beckett. It is the poem, “The Road Not Taken”.

Having overcome his fears, Beckett revels in his love for the forest and the wisdom he has found there. In Beckett’s new revelation he sings “The Road Not Taken”

Beckett, awakening from his dream, quickly snachtes up his poetry book and runs out the front door! He’s ecstatic about sharing his newfound knowledge and passion for poetry at school. A left turn, past the pointed picket fence, taking the shortcut through the woods!