The Bleeding Tree
Short Story
by Lamaloth
The woodcutter took the axe from the ground. He did not pay
attention to the broken blade but continued cutting, as he had
done until now.
With each blow, the tree seemed to come down. The man observed the trunk he had before his eyes, and sighed. A sigh dedicated to the memory of that centennial trunk, now that it was about to fall he feared death, without knowing why.
He breathed deeply and aimed his last blow, with more force. The edge of the axe penetrated the heart of the tree, he pulled to remove the axe but it would not come free.
He placed his foot against the trunk but he could not get any leverage, images of the tree coming towards him tortured his mind.
With his foot placed firmly on the tree, he made another effort to remove the blade. Then the blood began to flow. Still he fought to loosen the axe, but it was impossible. He was incapable of moving any muscles at all. Visions of death burned through him as the blood of the tree poured over him.
Still frozen, he watched in horror as a figure appeared in the bark of the tree. He struggled, not wanting to see a single detail of what was being revealed to him. The figure became the silhouette of a woman, a woman he had hurt.
The woodcutter's hands remained fixed to the handle of the axe. His immovable body was proof that he had cut deep into the heart of a living tree, the vision was becoming unbearable, he would rather skin himself alive than witness the rest.
Before him stood the woman that he loved with an axe buried deep in her torso. She reached out, touched his head and whispered several words to him. Though he was unable to understand the words he immediately fell into a deep sorrow, for the voice was so marked by suffering.
He watched as the figure disappeared into the tree, when she was gone, he managed to loosen his grip on the axe. He looked at his blood stained hands and screamed, the scream woke him and for a moment he was relieved, only a nightmare, then he remembered tearing her body apart.
He looked at his hands and screamed again, the scream echoed through block D at the county prison, the nightmare was real.
The Bleeding Tree© COPYRIGHT 2005 Lamaloth. Reproduction prohibited without permission from the author. 01/17/05
