Heart of Oak

Heart of Oak!
Created By Dave Gower




~Fall again~ the dryad thought. ~Another year finishing up. Boring, boring, boring. I am so tired of this. And it\'s been worse since the men stopped coming... stopped believing.~
With that failure in belief, her body had slowly faded, until in the last 200 years she was as insubstantial as a breeze.
~I am so lonely~ she thought.
~Most of my sisters have given up and faded to less than thought now. Unable to exist without believers. But not me. There\'s always hope. But just to find another man, just one. It will happen. I\'ll wait and watch over my forest.~
Of course, this existence had not always been quite so boring. For a while there, she had had quite a bit of excitement. Trying to convince her oak to grow twisted and do it quickly after she had lost her sisters to the lumbering operations. But even that was gone now.
But today, it seemed was going to be different.
She suddenly felt a presence in the woods. From this distance she could not tell what sex it was, but that was enough for her. Just a little chance was all she needed.
~Maybe it\'s a man!~ she thought as she went to investigate.
= = =
Leaves rustling, a girl walked through the woods. Sunlight glinted off the colorful leaves doing complicated shadow dances on the ground. She trudged along not caring, beauty seemed foreign to her right now.
She was looking for just the right place and she came upon an oak, all twisted and gnarled. It seemed right somehow.
It had bent to survive, yet kept it\'s individuality. She felt like clay, molded to everyone\'s whim. Then squashed down if some part wasn\'t quite right.
Dropping her jacket, she sat down and got comfortable.
Pulling a small pill bottle from the jacket pocket, she looked at it. The label read \"Dalmane Warning: Do not consume Alcoholic beverages or operate heavy machinery while taking this medication\" She snorted.
The pint of scotch she had secreted out of her father\'s liquor cabinet came out of the other pocket.
\"Well\" she thought, \"Might as well get started. I don\'t want to run out of time and have them find me too soon. Although it should be too late to search by the time they find the note.\"
Opening the bottle, she downed the remaining handful of pills, washing them down with the scotch. The raw liquor burned and she coughed.
Settling back against the firm old oak, she watched a dust mote in a sunbeam as the drugs started taking hold.
She felt better than she had in months. Nothing seemed to matter any more. She felt detached, floating and was mildly surprised to find herself looking at her body and watching as it slumped to the ground.
It didn\'t seem to matter though.
She floated there for a time, tied to her body, before she became aware of the presence of someone else. Someone she couldn\'t see.
There was suddenly a sort of tugging sensation grew in her mind, growing stronger with time as she focused on it.
Emotions, flashes of thought not her own flitted through her mind and need.
A strong need of something...
But what?
The flashes became clearer and finally she understood! It wanted her body.
\"Well why not?\" she thought. \"I don\'t any more.\"
Her mind was suddenly flooded with the sensation of joy and something else too fleeting to pick up, and then the Other was gone.
As she watched, her body stirred, gagged and vomited.
\"Wait, that\'s not supposed to happen. If you do that, won\'t die!\"
She realized that it must be the Other that was causing it.
\"No!\" she screamed, trying to go back to her body.
But there was some kind of barrier between her body and her spirit. She couldn\'t seem to get back.
\"No!\" she screamed at the Other. \"I changed my mind. Give me back my body!\"
But there was no response.
There was a crashing sound and a curse as the girl watched, helpless as her father ran through the trees and tripped over her body\'s legs.
\"Thank God.,\" he muttered.
\"I found her!\" he shouted and grabbed the empty bottles and shoved them in his pocket. Gathering the limp body of his daughter he ran from the woods. The girl tried to follow,
but found she was unable to leave the vicinity of the oak tree. The harder she tried, the more she is tied to the spot. She screamed, but there is no one to hear.
= = =
The other lies in the bed, conscious of how her new body responds. Feeling the tubes and needles going into it. Listening to the sounds, smelling the smells, feeling again for the first time in centuries. Even the pain was wonderful.
Nothing is familiar. No swords, no filth, no fear and no one to tell her she could not be the person she always wanted.
She feels the heartbeat of the baby inside her and smiles.
\"Sally?\"
She opens her eyes. A concerned male face looms over her.
\"Are you all right honey?\" She frowns.
\"Who is Sally?\" she rasps.
The man\'s smile seems to droop.
\"Why you are. Don\'t you know?\"
She considers this for a moment. \"No, I can\'t seem to remember anything. What is this place? Who are you?\"
The man looks at her, face draining of color.
\"I\'ll be right back\" he mutters and hurries from the room.
The silent screaming which only she can hear dies off to sobs far away in the woods. She contemplates the new life in her, that she can mold for her purposes and smiles at the thought that someone else will have to finish serving her sentence.
It is not a pretty smile.
= 30 =