L'hêtre Humain

English version

Since the disappearance of her mother, many years ago, Amarande liked to seek solace from the large beech located in the garden. Sitting between two of his roots and her back leaning on his majestic trunk, she would watch from there, her house, her garden, and beautiful sunsets. In order to clear out her head, she closed her eyes and listened to the soothing rustle of leaves.

She awoke with a start, feeling the earth move around her. She saw the tree roots surrounding her thighs. Panic-stricken her and she yelled in hopes that someone would come to her rescue. Her father arrived, breathless, wondering why her daughter was panicking so much. Then she noticed that the roots were on the ground, where they were supposed to be. Flustered, she told her father that this was just a nightmare and he should not worry, however, it seemed much too real for her to be a dream.

After the shocking events, she felt the need to relax. She chose to take a hot bath. Opening the water tap with her trembling hands, she looked absently at the water who was filling up the bath. It was at that moment that she noticed that the water had reached the edge of the tub and she turned off the water tap. She entered the bath filled with hot water and sat down. Holding her breath, she immersed in completely, forgetting the outside world. When she resurfaced her head above water, she noticed that her hands had changed appearance, usually so soft and smooth, they now had a brownish color and seemed rough. Panicked, she got them out of the water to watch them more closely. However, she saw that they were the same as they had been her whole life, pink and smooth. She put the blame of her hallucinations on the stroke of fatigue and left the bathroom, ready to go to bed. She dried herself and tried unsuccessfully to untangle her hair. She then went to bed, with wet and tangled hair.

After an unrestful night, she woke up with a heavy head. Yawning, she opened her curtains to see a gray and gloomy sky. She walked through the house still silent and walked to the bathroom. Her eyes still half open, she went to the sink and splashed her face with cold water. She raised her head and looked at her reflection in the mirror. What she saw left her speechless. Multiple green leaves seemed to have grown out of her hair, in which themselves had the appearance of branches. Frightened, she tore one of the leaves with her shaking hands. She felt pain, one that was close to having your hair pulled by someone, it pinched her skull at the exact place where the leaf previously was. Another leaf soon replaced the one who was gone.

She cautiously put a scarf around her head, being careful not to let a glimpse of branches or leaves. She ran to her room to put her jacket on and some shoes. She went out with the only purpose to go to the old gardener for some advice. On this cloudy day, a strong wind made havoc on this isolated land, resulting in her having to firmly hold her scarf. The distance between her house and the gardener's house seemed strangely far away, but yet it was so close.

Once there, she knocked on the door eagerly, hoping he would make an appearance. Leaving him barely time to open the door, she rushed in and told him what had just happened to her. To prove him she was right and not lying, she showed him her hair, or should I say the branches on her head. Slowly sipping his tea, he nodded and smiled with a toothless smile. After seeing the defeat of Amarande's face, the gardener told her the story of a young woman who, like her, had similar symptoms. It reminded her of a story that her grandmother loved to tell her when she was younger. He reassured her by telling her that it was quite normal and that she had not to worry, that everything would be better in a few weeks. She didn't believe the words of the gardener and decided to let it be. She carefully rearranged her scarf and went to help her father on the farm, a long day of harvest was waiting for her.

The next morning, she went to the bathroom hoping that her hair had gone back to their usual appearance. It had not and she was disappointed that her hair had remained the same. Her eyes filled with tears. What if it remained like this for all her life? She wiped her tears and then she noticed that green dots had appeared all along her arms. Her heart jumped. What if it was permanent? And what if she had to live her life looking like that?

Desperate, she rushed to see the gardener without even taking the time to dress properly or to put her shoes on. She ran outside, barefoot in the grass who was freshly cut. Then she felt like her feet were drawn to the ground, it became increasingly hard for her to walk. It was taking her a lot of effort each time to get her feet out of the ground. Tired, she stopped fighting against the attraction that drew her feet toward the ground.

Oddly, she felt at ease when her feet were planted in the cool soil. She was somehow in harmony with the nature around her. She stretched out her arms as if she was gonna touch the sky and the green dots on her arms transformed into buds than they bloomed into little yellow flowers. In no time, she became a majestic beech, that stretched is branches towards the sky. His father, who had observed the whole transformation, was saddened to see that his daughter had also transformed into a beech, like her mother and her grandmother. However, he was glad to see that she had joined her beloved ones.