The Wood Nymph
Flash fiction
She was born from the oak
seed and acorn seeds that fell to the ground. The forest around her protected
her while she grew.
They told her stories of
the forest so when she grew up she would know everything there was to know so
she could protect herself.
One day she had a visitor
who called himself a wood king. He wanted her to grow in his kingdom but she
did not want to leave the forest.
He promised her
everything and more. He said that she would see flowers for the first time.
“Would you not like
that?” he cooed.
She was wary of him and
shook her head at him.
The forest trees around
her never said anything and she wondered why. Maybe they feared him?
She was not going to show
fear of him and turned away from him.
That was a mistake.
Her roots were being
lifted up out of the ground and the more she tried to grasp on the earth that
she came from, the more pull she felt.
Now she was moving from
the spot that she grew from.
She cried out to the
forest but all she heard was the crunch under the wood king’s feet.
Now she was standing tall
in a flower bed. Her roots shared the delicate roots of the flowers that felt
cold against her.
She wished to be back in
the forest but how was she to get back?
The answer came one day
when the king’s son visited the garden. This was his favorite garden and when
he seen her he was horrified.
“What are you doing in my
garden?”
“You’re father brought me
here. I do not wish to be here.”
He looked at her warily
and then said, “Really? Well, maybe there is something I can do about that.”
“Will you take me back to
the forest?”
He nodded. “I will come
in the wee hours of the morning and I will move you before the sun rises.”
She could tell that he
wanted something in return.
“In return for doing
this, you must stay in the forest hidden from my father. Old dead trees will hide
you.”
She did not want this,
she wanted to be in the forest where all the trees were alive. Where she was
ripped out of the ground.
“I will not stay hidden
in amongst the dead. I want to be planted where I was rudely taken.”
The prince sighed. “Alright
then, but you must disguise yourself then. If you don’t I will have no choice
but to cut you down.”
Her eyes went wide.
So, just before the birds
woke, she felt herself being lifted out of the garden. She only hoped that he
took her to where she was born.
When they reached the
forest however, there was a nasty dragon there and he was eyeing up the prince.
The prince dropped her
where they stood, at the edge of the forest and ran for cover.
The dragon flew up after him
but soon stopped and flew down to where she laid.
She stared into amber
gold eyes that resembled flickers of fire burning.
He studied her for a
moment before speaking. “Why was the prince taking a tree out of the king’s
garden?”
“This is my home. The
king took me and his son did not want me in his favorite garden so he brought
me back. I almost made it home.”
She could feel a sadness wash
over her. Her roots tried to dig into the soil but it was too hard and stony at
the edge of the forest.
The dragon could see that
she was in trouble.
“I will put you in the
forest if you do something for me.”
She had no choice.
“I fly alone and I want a
mate to be with me.”
She looked at him
confused. “I am a tree.”
The dragon smiled. “Yes,
you are but you are no ordinary tree. You have magic in you and you can shift
into a dragon and fly with me.”
She did not know this and
didn’t’ really believe it. But she nodded anyway so he would move her back.
The dragon carefully carried
her to the exact place where she was taken. Her roots dug into the rich loam
and her whole self-felt alive once again.
The dragon told her that
on the night of the new moon, he would come for her.
When that night had come,
she warily looked up into the night sky. All she could see was the tiny glows
of the stars with the moon off in the distance.
She closed her eyes and
rested.
She woke up early in the
morning and she remembered clearly the dream she had or so she thought it was.
There was upheaved earth
all around her. How did that happen?
Suddenly vision of flying
through the star filled night came to her. How did she do that?
It must have been a dream
so she asked the trees next to her but their faces were blank and they could
not talk to her.
She looked all around her
and the trees were silent.
That night she called out
to the dragon to come to her and by surprise he did.
“I dreamt that I flew.
Did I fly with you?”
“Yes, you did. I told you
that you had magic.”
“Why don’t the other
trees talk to me then?”
“They can’t hear you
because they can’t see you. The prince hid you so the king would not find you.”
Now she was all alone.
She did not want this. “I don’t want to live alone like this with no one to
talk to. Help me.”
“You could fly with me
all the time. Then you would not be alone. I would not be alone. Does that
sound good?”
She nodded and that night
and every night after when the moon and stars shone and even on moonless
nights, they would fly together.
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