Me Myself And I

The Twisted Truth

Next to my house is an oak tree. Its bark is twisted, gnarly. Over the years name's and initials have been carved into its bark. And sometimes, when it rains, an eerie red glow can be seen faintly waxing and weining around its silhouette. Legend has it that the tree is grown from the ashes of a Witch who used blood magic to get revenge on her wrongdoers. I don't believe in all that. It's probably just a street light that can't cope with the rain, causing that ominous glow. There's nothing to worry about. But animals don't dear go near it, most of them anyway. There is one cat who sits in its boughs watching the passersbys keep a safe distance.

I awoke to the sound of crashing and breaking bark. NO, the Witch Tree was being cut down. Everyone new this day would come. There has been an abundance of tourism of late, and something had to be done. The tourists don't like the thought of a vengeful Witches Tree. I neglected to mention the part of the legend in which its told, if the tree was ever cut down, the sky would turn red, and blood would rain down on the Earth until every human, animal, and plant had been drowned. The day had come. Was the legend true? Mother told me to hang the washing up 10 minutes ago, so I headed downstairs to sort it out.

About 2 hours later, my dad shouted up the stairs for me to bring the washing in a sudden storm had swept in over the village. By the time I ran downstairs, it was hammering it down. I looked over to my right side. All that was left of the Witch Tree was a spikey, splintered stump. I turned back to the washing line and noticed a watered-down red fleck on a white sheet. At first, it didn't dawn on me, then with a sudden jolt of realisation it did. The legend? Could it possibly be true? More red flecks appeared everywhere. On the washing, floor, and on me. I sprinted inside. Shouting to my parents, I looked out the window and saw everything was turning red. My mother and father were upstairs packing. They knew it was real now as well. I grabbed my stuff, and we got into the car and drove. I didn't know where we were going, but my parents seemed to have an idea. I sat in silence, looking out the window. Complete panic everywhere people were packing and leaving. Neighbours trying to get rides of each other. Children wailing and shrieking. It wasn't just in our village now, the main roads were packed with people and everything was red. People were getting out their cars and running up the road instead. My parents looked back at me and told me we had to run. We got out of the car, everyone had the same idea, though. I was knocked to the ground.