Treeheart

My heart is a bloodstone, rootwrapped and cold, runecarved with spells. I found it, just sprung from an acorn, and darkly it gave me a purpose to grow to the clouds.

I have strangled my siblings, sensed how their life has been fed into sweetness of sap in my veins. I shadow the meadow with branches of might, not even a flower can bloom without my permission.

Do you still believe in the goodness of timber?
Let me tell you a story.

Once there was a young man in love with a girl at the farm just up there yonders. He came to me telling his woes, while he carved her name into my bark.

I fed him with words from my sap, convinced him to murder the farmer up there yonders. Convinced him the daughter would fall into his arms once her father was dead.

The girl came lamenting her father was dead, and I lowered a nose for maiden to use. I sang her a lullaby and she willingly let herself blossom from one of my branches.

Later they came with the boy to hang him, and as he was dying I swayed them together.

I rejoice from being your gallows, and whenever you feel ready I can help you to die. I will give you a rope and my leaves can pretend to lament.

My sap will be stronger if you feed my your blood.

A little different piece of prose for Magaly at Poet’s United writing from the perspective of trees.
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June 2, 2019

17 responses to “Treeheart”

W-O-W. Intensity at its finest.

OwOOOOO. Gracious! After all of our good-natured trees, you give us the opposite, and a very good story it is. Do I still believe in the goodness of timber? Being near some parts of unthinking humanity could pervert even the sweetest of beings. Maybe, though, this one was born blood thirsty! Excellent, darkly.

Wow, I wasn’t expecting this story. It reminded me of a story I heard about a hanging tree. I am sure I stopped breathing a bit while reading this Bjorn. You definitely write dark quite well. I wonder what your dreams are like.

Okay so gave up a dark serving. Back to those days. They really existed.
Have a nice Sunday Björn

Much 🌲🖤🌴🖤🌳love

Bjorn, I love the heart rootwrapped and rune carved. Wow. And at least the girl and young man were reunited in death, brought together by the tree. Excellent writing.

Wow! This is storytelling at its most poetic … a morality tale of tree revenge … I wouldn’t have thought I could get so totally ‘all-in’ to it. Perhaps, it is the state of the environment as a result of the stupidity and arrogance of mankind – but really, the end, seemed so just and fitting.

I am, of course, often struck by the brilliance of your writing, Bjorn, but this is truly above and beyond, pretty much, any piece of flash fiction I have ever read.

It only makes sense that if some humans are terrible, some trees must be ruthless. I swear I heard the tree chuckling as it told us the story. The joy in his words and tone are slightly terrifying. The same goes for that bloody Fantastically dark…

I was all in after reading that first line, “My heart is a bloodstone”, and it just got better from there. I do love a dark nature story every now and then. Sometimes we’re so focused on the lovable and fuzzy parts that we forget nature has also perfected the fanged ones.

Oh, yuk! (Well twisted!)

Ouch! Tree with the darkest soul. Really enjoyed its delight in all evil work 🙂

wow, what a dark perspective from your tree. really enjoyed the story, and the way you told it. i was trying to write one along these lines, but other things came and took my time.
in our Chinese folk tales, some old trees are portrayed as malevolent spirits. 🙂