The Witch Tree

The Darkness enveloped her.

The flash of ancestral memory was gone as soon as it had come, but it had scared her more than anything in her short, short life. She stood, the dirt path that she had been crouched on rough on her feet. The Voices spoke again.

Stupid.

We should not have come.

Stupid Elisabeth.

Her name. Her mother's name. Her grandmother's name. The name was old, older than most trees here, except one. The forest loomed, dark and goading.

The tall, tall tree towers over her, impressive, apart from the names gouged in the bark. One stands out.

Lizzie, one of the Voices whispered.

Reverently, almost tenderly, she touched the bark. All the hate and the anger the tree felt towards her and her family shot through her fingers like a dart. She snatched her hand back as if burned. Cradling her fingers, she glared up at the tree. She would not let this tree hurt her anymore. Anger gave her the courage to do the thing she came to do. The Voices did not control her anymore. She ran a finger down the blade of an axe hanging by her side.

Stop this! the most dominant Voice demanded. She paused. Thought. Paused again.

And made her decision.

She hefted her axe and swung, hitting the trunk. Her side erupted with pain, but she swung again. Blood trickled from her side and soaked her shirt. She didn't care. She'd never liked that shirt anyway.

STOP! Cried the Voices but she was not listening. The Voices had controlled her life from the start. They would not control her again.

Every hit she landed on the tree hurt, but she kept working. The tree had sent the Voices to plague her family for generations. Now she was getting her own back. She was angry, scared, but most of all relieved. 'This is good' she told herself. She could feel herself weakening, every swing using more and more of her dwindling strength. The tree creaked, and eventually, tilted, and, with an awful crunching sound fell. She watched this, her entire body wracked with pain. The axe fell from her grip. She slumped to the ground, content for the first time in her life.

Goodbye, Lizzie. The tree whispered.

And the Darkness enveloped her.

This is one of my short stories! I hope you enjoyed it. I'll post my shorts on my website for you to read, free of charge.