Rochelle, host of Friday Fictioneers, challenges her community of writers each week to compose a short (100 word) story in response to a photographic prompt. This week, the prompt is provided courtesy of Connie Gayer.
The Forest
When
asked to draw a family tree she sketches a forest. Charcoal pines stalk the borders of her page,
their blackness billowing behind them like warnings. With each smudge they creep closer; a crowd sneaking
towards the centre.
There,
another pine. A sapling, perhaps. Smaller than the rest. Slight.
Leaves curling inwards around arms that cross, that say NO WAY, that say
GO AWAY.
Bark
and branches crackle. The sound fills empty
spaces and slaps into subservience words that dare defy their desires.
*
When
next asked, she again sketches a forest.
This time: a hole where the sapling once stood.
Nicely done. There are hints of another story in there, of something dark and tragic.
ReplyDelete