Artwork by Jane Yeager Noel

Maya in the forest at the end of time.
Artwork Copyright © 2007 by Jane Noel

From Walker in Leaves: 

Maya moves with her hands high, so that any movement will be down as leaves fall. Though anxious about Giver-of-Corn, she ambles on to finish the mission begun six months earlier. Ahead, the shadow of a mound rises up beneath a great oak.

A door awaits.

Somewhere below the forest, the engine that gives her life weakens. For months she had been held in sway to its faltering beat, her mind and body frozen, sending her into an abyss of dreams. She has been striding toward that door for half a year, unknowing if she would ever truly wake again.

Vines lose their toughened grip as the door responds to Maya’s approach. Regretfully, a tree root snaps, but the door shudders to a halt before its whine of power can cross the glade.

Suddenly, an opening has been made into the earth, and Maya steps lightly on its downward slope. Without breathing, she catches a scent of mold and of deep, uncirculated water. A flutter like the sound of wings echoes from the hollow. Her vision adjusts as she descends. In spots, lights attempt to greet her, but it is a basement she enters, flickering and ancient, where the footfalls of millipedes wear tracks in grime older than the forest above. After a long descent, she steps into water.

How long ago was it that the floor was dry? The exactitude of such time, vast time, escapes her.

Once this place sustained great scholars, scientists. Now sightless fish skip through broken walls, retreating as Maya wades their private corridors, finding with each step that she remembers the labyrinthine path to the heart of power. A heart that flutters like dark wings. And with it, she flutters too.

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Walker in Leaves
by Scot Noel

Jane Yeager Noel is an artist and  website designer living in Grapeville, PA.

Jane Yeager Noel is a webmaster and co-owner of Computers Made Easy, a web design and development house in Grapeville, PA. 

This website is one of Jane's designs, and you can see more of her work by visiting her online Portfolio.

Prior to owning her own web development company, Jane worked in computer game development.  Her jobs included artist, art lead, art director, and project manager.  She has worked for Paragon Software, Event Horizon Software, and DreamForge Intertainment.

Among her many projects, Jane served as Project Manager on the original 101 Dalmatians computer game for Disney Interactive.

You can reach Jane via email at Jane@CMEWebsites.com or via phone at 724-523-3001.

Copyright Info

Walker in Leaves
Copyright © 2007 by Scot Noel
Artwork Copyright © 2007 by Jane Yeager Noel

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