Man of the Woods #writephoto #flashfiction

Man of the Woods sprang out at me as I saw the #writephoto prompt for this week. The picture of the Tree Man (below) is by fellow scribe Willowdot, and it’s wonderful! KL Caley runs the #writephoto from New2Writing.com, posting a new prompt every Thursday at noon UK time. Hop over and join in if you feel inspired! This week gains much from Finding the Mother Tree, which I reviewed on Saturday. And other events last week.

Man of the Woods

The trees whispered to each other, connecting through the fungal network that spread through the forest floor, exchanging nutrients, gossip and scarce resources.

“He’s come, he’s come!”

The Mother Tree heard the messages from her children and great-children. She spread a feeling of well-being, of pleasure towards her kin, reassuring them, reserving a private doubt to herself. After all these years, it could not be her Man of the Woods.

There was a pattern to the signals, though, consistent with someone entering the wood and heading towards its centre, where she waited, bowed down with age and spreading limbs. The split crown would never repair, and the gash from the lightening storm fifty years ago had widened, letting in damp and spores. It was the way of the world, all creatures, however solid, succumbed in time to feed the rest of society.

And so it was with the ashes being sprinkled among the roots of her kin. A solo human, walking through the majestic woods, leaving traces of a loved one to mingle with the earth, and become one with all the beings on the planet.

Not her Man of the Woods. But one worthy of becoming a new Man of the Woods.

Roscoe c2014 to 22.06.21