Demetryst2 #Wattys2017

4. The Weirdest Yet.

I blinked repeatedly, trying to wish away the migraine that was beginning to form at the base of my skull also convincing myself that I was dreaming.

How can a tree move?

It defies all laws of gravity and nature.

Yes, it was still raining but eyesight had gotten a lot sharper, it seemed.

I was seeing everything happening down at the meadow quite clearly.

It seemed like the figure I saw the first time I went into the garden was real.

A woman attired in tattered black clothes staggered round the garden like she was in pain or carrying something heavy, without destroying or trampling on any of the neatly planted flowers and trees.

She seemed like she was crying, though I couldn't see that through the rain.

Right behind her was the massive forbidden tree floating gently, undisturbed and not disturbing anything either. I couldn't make head or tail of what I was looking at.

Until realization dawned.

Then it clicked.

Ohhhhhhhh.

The truth, which was also quite absurd, was that this woman had a very thick branch of the tree connected to her back in a way that seemed like the tree out of the woman's back. The tree had no roots, its life source was this exhausted haggard-looking woman dressed in rags.

It seemed like the woman had done something wrong and the tree was to be her burden and a punishment as well.

As I looked down at her, the clock struck midnight, lightning flashed and she looked directly at me.

I couldn't breathe, it seemed like those green eyes were inches away from mine, face framed by dark wet curls and lit by the sharp lighting.

I recoiled and looked away from the window to regain my breath.

Looking back, she was no longer there, neither was the tree.

I've seen a lot of weird things.

This was the weirdest yet.