Forest bedroom

The Forest bedroom is a furnished room hidden in the woods, a place where Lennie Walker’s solitary habits and her changing relationship with Joe Fontaine intersect. First a private refuge for writing, reading, and daydreaming, it later becomes the setting for Joe’s unexpected return, announced by the melody of his duet before he appears at the bed.

Setting and purpose

The room stands in the middle of the forest, about a mile from an inn on the river. Its owner, Sam, an old hippie, set it up for guests to happen upon after hiking, with surprise romance in mind. A tarp protects it when it rains. Its deliberate separation from ordinary indoor life makes the bedroom feel both furnished and improbable: a bed, desk, and rocker sit beneath the trees, ready to be found rather than approached by a conventional path through a house.

Lennie’s private refuge

Lennie has been coming to the bedroom for a long time. She writes at its desk, reads in its rocker, and lies on the bed to daydream; the space belongs to a private life she has not previously shared with a boyfriend. When she brings Joe there, she presents him with a familiar refuge that is also new in their relationship. Her running leap onto the bed and his wonder at finding a whole bedroom in the forest register the contrast between her accustomed intimacy with the place and his astonishment.

Joe’s return

Later, Lennie goes back to the room while doubting that Joe will come and believing that he may still hate her. As she lies on the bed, she hears a strange sound approaching through the trees. The melody becomes recognizable as the one from Joe’s duet, carried closer through the surrounding rustle of leaves, distant river, and birdsong. Joe then emerges from the brush and stands at the edge of the bed. He tells her he received her poem, making the bedroom the setting for a tentative renewed encounter: the place where Lennie has long been alone becomes the point at which Joe answers her through the music and writing they share.