Photo by Sue Vincent
I stood gazing up at the tree. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was twisted with a gaping hole through which the sun streamed through and its limbs looked like tentacles. Of course, it got my imagination running wild. I imagined that it was an alien tree planted among normal trees. It fascinated and repulsed me at the same time. At any moment, I expected it to come alive like the trees in Lord of the Rings.
I sat down in the grass beside it and opened my notebook. It never occurred to me to write a story about a tree but this one begged to be my next subject. I pondered for a long moment, wondering what could one possibly say about a tree? Then, I began to write. The words began to pour out, filling an entire page.
Suddenly, I became very drowsy. My eyes felt so heavy. I fought to keep them open but I couldn’t…
I had no idea how long I had dozed off for but when I opened my eyes, it was getting dark. The sun was setting. It’s bright orange glow blazed across the sky and engulfing the trees in its fiery splendor. The trees. With a start I realized that they weren’t regular trees anymore and they were talking among themselves. Shaking with fear, I tried to figure out how I could slip away unnoticed.
I closed my notebook and began to creep away, hoping to put as much distance between them and me as possible. Then, I felt something on my leg and I turned around. The alien tree was bending towards me and I could see that it had a face where the hole used to be. It didn’t look like an Ent. What was it?
As if it read my mind, it said in a low, deep voice, “I am Gargantwart. The Ents, I and others like myself protect humans from the tree trolls which invade the forest as soon as night falls. Quick, climb onto my branch and I will take you to the edge of the forest where you will be safe. No time to delay. The sun will soon depart and darkness will come.”
I had two choices, make a dash for it and risk running into the tree trolls or climb on this monstrous tree and have it take me to safety. The sound of what sounded like thunder, the shaking of the ground and the other trees, yelling, “Hurry, they are coming,” made my mind up for me and in one leap, I was in the tree and clinging for dear life to its branches.
When it stood up, I had to close my eyes because I’m acrophobic. I felt the breeze on my face, heard the swooshing sound of the wind in the leaves and the sensation of moving through the forest. It was a weird experience–one that no one would believe. Then, we stopped moving. And I felt myself being lowered.
When I opened my eyes I realized that I was lying on the sofa in the living-room and my brother was staring at me. Startled, I sat up. The television was on and the closing credits for Lord of the Rings were rolling. Dazed, I looked around me, trying to figure out what had happened. My opened notebook lay beside me and written in it were paragraphs of my story.
“You slept through the rest of the movie,” my brother informed me.
I stared at him. “Movie?”
“Yes, sleepyhead. We were supposed to be watching Lord of the Rings but, you fell asleep right when they were showing the Ents, the coolest part of the movie.” He shook his head. “Sisters, I’ll never understand them.”
I sat there, thinking, this had all been a fanciful dream. Smiling, I picked up my pen and began to write.
This is written in response to the Thursday Photo Prompt – Caught for Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo.
Sources: Wikipedia; Masterpiece Generator
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