Tree

Greenincarnation

I wake up in a tree, and its raining. The sky above me is dark gray, and I can feel the rain soothing my skin. I attempt to move, but I cant. The wind is gently swaying me back and forth, ever so softly, like a loose leaf, ready to let go and fly. I try to turn my head, but my perspective remains up at the crying sky. I feel a bug crawl on my arm, but I cant brush it away. I feel my feet, far away, naked in the wet ground, my toes buried deep in the soil. 

And suddenly I realize that I cant move at all. I'm stuck in a tree, and the rain is landing on me, and the cold is growing, yet I don't feel uncomfortable. I cant move, yet I am content with where I am, tranquil as the rain falls on my face, all over my body, feeding me.

How did I end up in a tree? I have no idea. Am I tied to a tree? No, because my body is free, loose from any constricting rope. 

The rain stops and a bird lands in my hair and feeds its newborn chicks.

I move my toes like long dead worms in the soil, from which the bird attacks at and pulls worms out of the ground like a magician pulling rabbits from a hat.

My feet are deep in the ground.

I have the feeling of dirt and rocks shoved far under the caves of my toenails. I cant remove my toes out of the ground, I pull and tug but my feet are being sucked under the ground, as if I were standing perfectly still in quick sand. My arms are stretched out far over my head, obscuring the sun from my eyes. Or is that my hair? My thick green hair.

It has been hours now since I have last awoken. I remain in the same place all morning, unable to just turn around and walk away down toward the dying horizon. Thoughts rushed through my conscience of  Limbo, possible coma, or just a really scary dream. But I can't be sleeping.

I am completely aware of my surroundings, completely non-oblivious to everything. I see the sky, the sun. I feel the wind blowing on me gently, oxygen breathing into me, even though I am not actually breathing. The air practically glues itself to my skin.

I hear the wind rushing through my head, brushing the thick leafy hair sprouting out of my skin. I hear the soft whisper of cars in the distance, drifting off with the sound of the cold wind that rushes by. I feel the cold air on my skin. I see the moon high in the dark blue sky, vague purple mountains below it. I hear soft footsteps in the grass. I see a soft glowing yellow growing closer to my permanent position, evidently a lantern. I feel the rough footsteps on my soil, feet punching at the ground of my feet. 

I see the man set the lantern down on the ground. I feel its warm orb of yellow baking the soft sod, as if wet cold socks were removed and my cold slabs of feet placed in front of a gentle fire. I hear the clanks of a chainsaw contemplating on whether it should wake from its dream and start screaming. The man sighs and exhales aggressively, drops the chainsaw on the ground and walks over to me.

The man stops in front of me and lays his head against the long rough torso of my body. I hear the man start to cry, and he pounds violently at my torso. I am overcome with an odd, awkward feeling, a feeling of anger and confusion. I stand helpless, unable to move my body away from this crazy man who's hitting me and crying like a psycho.

His warm hands caress the rough bark of my stomach, and I feel his life perspiring onto me. I can sense his presence and feel him standing on my ground, feel him touch me gently. I can feel his pain. I cant directly see him, yet I can. Its like closing your eyes and picturing a man standing in front of you. 

His boots are standing on my exposed roots and I feel a tear fall onto my thirsty ground. I know it is a tear because it is like water, but I can taste the saltiness as my soil swallows it. The man backs away from me and goes back to the chainsaw. He picks it up and yanks on the cord, only to hear its stubborn refusal. After angry persistence the chainsaw wakes up, breathes in the nights air, and screams. 

The sun is almost gone, the gold eye slipping under the horizon, and the saw is awake. The moon is high and milky white and the man takes a step towards me. The chainsaw is conscious and wants to bite, but waits for the mans approval. The man squeezes the chainsaw and it screams, its teeth spinning around ferociously. The man loosens his grip and the saw calms. I stand and watch helplessly as the man takes another step closer, all of this seeming to happen so slow, so drawn out, like a dream. The saw speaks with a metallic voice, its teeth clanking and roaring and wanting so desperately to eat. I try to turn and run away as fast as I can, but I cant even manage to turn my body. My feet ignore my desperate calls as I try to pull them out of the ground. The man holds the saw as if he is in debt to it, and the only way to repay it is to feed it. Let it eat. He holds the saw, squeezes it again and the saw screams in hunger. 

The man looks up at me and looks me straight in the eye for the first time, and I realize that the man is me, and right as I realize this the saw is biting me, tearing at my stomach. I feel the saws teeth bite a thousand shards out of me and I scream, my body shakes on its own or from the violent mutilation of the saw, a bird flies away, abandoning its freshly hatched and hungry chicks. 

The saw is eating me, devouring me and I feel my bottom half start to fade away, fall asleep. I feel blood seep out of me but there is no blood, none at all, only the sharp pain of hopelessness. This must be hell, being eaten alive by a machine and letting it eat you. The pain, so undeserved, multiplies as another tooth of the saw completes its rotation and comes back down on my skin, inside of me and destroys me, swallows me whole.

I feel my body splitting in half and I start to slowly fall to one side. I see the look of the mans face one last time, and I know the expression on his face is the same that's on mine. The saw is burning through me, my insides are flying at the mans face, and I'm falling. My feet are no longer apart of me, they're buried in the ground, dead. I'm falling back, I'm splitting in half, I cant see the ground or the man or the thing that is killing me, I only see the night sky. The stars are shining down at me, and I know this isn't hell. This is earth. 

As the pain starts to fade, so does my conscience, and I close my eyes. When I wake up the saw is in my hands and for the first time I am free. The moon glows orange and I drop the saw and run across the field laughing.

Reviews

[Rob Santana]

Bizarre story,I like it! .a little cluttered but well written.