Fan Fiction ❯ The Ghastly Tree ❯ The Ghastly Tree ( One-Shot )

 

The Ghastly Tree

 

 

There once was a legend about a dark, ghastly, evil tree, located in the darkest depths of any forest. No matter what forest it was, it was the same tree. No man knew of its location, no man knew if it really existed. All they had was one man's word, and it spread from there.

 

One day, another man, (who shall be only known as "the man" from here on) heard this story, and was interested in the location of such a tree. The Man however was a very strange man at that. He Wore black, and his hair were in a scary position at all times, and he was very dark in person. He was sometimes called "insane," sometimes called "obsessive."

 

He obsessed over anything he took interest in. The last thing he ever took interest in, was this tree.

 

The Man looked for years, looking for this tree. He looked high, and he looked low.

 

One day, The Man just gave up. However, he did so, deep, in a dark forest. He had marked his way so that he would be able of leave, and return if he found the tree, and started to head back, when somewhere, there was a red glow.

 

The Man followed this red glow, and realized it was just water, reflecting the moonlight. He also saw, that the water was almost dried out, that it had been left alone for a long time. He washed his hands, but the water wasn't water at all. It was blood.

 

The man saw, that his dream had just come true in front of his eyes. His trail was gone, but he stood in front of the dark tree.

 

"What dares stands before me, and bathes their hands in my blood?" a ghastly, scary, dark, gasp-for-air-like voice said.

 

"I do," the man replied, and the tree's trunk formed into a face. It's eyes looked like portals into shadow, and its mouth did too. Two branches reached out like arms, and it's top curves into a heart. Three hearts grew from the tree; one under the main face, the other two from the bend in the heart. It also had two more heads, one of which frowned and the other which smiled.

 

"Ah, once again, a man steps foot to my trunk," the tree started, "What is your greatest wish of all, for it shall be."

 

The man was astonished. He was not aware that his greatest desire would be granted upon discovery of the tree. He looked deep, deep deep, into his mind, and found his wish.

 

"I wish..." the man started, "For a wife. A perfect woman, who shall be mine, until the day I die,”

 

The tree paused, and then began again. "To bring a life into the world, one must be taken."

 

The man stared into the depths of the tree in horror. It wanted him to kill...

 

"Bring me the body of the most beautiful woman you see, and so your wish shall be..." the tree gasped.

 

The Man could not think how he would be able to kill a woman!

 

However, like many other men, The Man was very greedy...

 

A week later, the man returned to the tree.

 

"Ah, you have brought the woman, I presume?" it gasped, and the man stepped up, holding a sleeping woman in his arms.

 

Under the tree, he stripped her of her clothes, and plunged a knife into her chest. He drained her blood in the pool at the foot of the tree.

 

The tree's arm grabbed the woman, and he dropped her body into his mouth. The tree growled, as on another branch, the body of a more beautiful woman was dropped like a fruit and was hanging by her hair.

 

"So you wish it, so it shall be..."

 

The woman awoke, and was placed into The Man's arms. He clothed her, thanked the tree, and left. As he left, the tree laughed:

 

"So you wish it, so it shall be..."

 

A year later, the man returned to the tree. The man returned with his wife. They both washed their hands into he pool of blood.

 

"What dares stands before me, and bathes their hands in my blood?" a ghastly, scary, dark, gasp-for-air-like voice said.

 

"We do," The Man says, holding his loving wife, who is gripping him in fear.

 

"Ah, once again, this man steps foot to my trunk," the tree started, "What is your greatest wish of all, for it shall be."

 

At this time, the man could answer without hesitation, for he planned in advance for this visit.

 

"I wish..." the man started, "For a daughter. A perfect child, who shall be graceful, and grow to be as beautiful as her mother.”

 

The tree paused, and then began again. "To bring a life into the world, one must be taken."

 

The man stared into the depths of the tree in horror. It wanted him to kill again...

 

But it made no sense! The tree needed a body to create a woman the man's age, but to create a child of no age at all it still needed a body?!

 

"Bring me the body of an unborn child, and so your wish shall be..." the tree gasped.

 

The Man could not think of how he would be evil enough to kill a pregnant woman, and steal her unborn child!

 

However, like many other men, The Man was very greedy...

 

Two weeks later, the man returned to the tree.

 

"Ah, you have brought the child, I presume?" it gasped, and the man stepped up, holding a small bandaged unborn child in his right hand, his wife hugging him.

 

Under the tree, he held the child, and plunged a knife into it, draining it of its blood, and placing it in the pool.

 

The tree's arm scooped up the child, holding it with its thumb and index finger, and placed it in its mouth. The tree growled, as on another branch, the body of a baby dropped like a fruit and was caught by its new father.

 

"So you wish it, so it shall be..."

 

The man stared at the newborn, and his eyes filled with tears of joy.

 

He held her, thanked the tree, hugged his wife, and left. As he left, the tree laughed:

 

"So you wish it, so it shall be..."

 

Seven years passed, and the man lived a perfect life, with a perfect wife, and a perfect child. However, on the eighth year, the man noticed, his wife, and daughter had become harsh.

 

His daughter was no longer as sweet as she was when she was seven, and his wife was no longer as loving as she was when she was eight. The wife made fun of him, scolded him for no reason, and was all around mean to him.

 

The man returned to the tree, with his wife and daughter that year.

 

"We're going back to this thing again? God, don't you ever do anything yourself, you lazy good for nothing man!" she said, hitting him, and his daughter stuck her tongue out at him.

 

They stood under the tree, and the man washed his hands in the pool of blood.

 

"What dares stands before me, and bathes their hands in my blood?" a ghastly, scary, dark, gasp-for-air-like voice said.

 

"M-m-me again..." The Man says, trembling and stuttering. For the first time ever the tree scared him... It also seemed to have become creepier and bigger...

 

"Ah, once again, this man steps foot to my trunk," the tree started, "What is your greatest wish of all, for it shall be."

 

"I come not asking for a wish, O great tree," The Man said, and the tree looked at him astonished.

 

"What then?" It asked harshly in a dark, ghastly voice.

 

"My wife, and child... they have seemed to turn on me!" he started, "They have seemed to become dysfunctional, and harsh toward me!" The Man stated.

 

"Ah, it has happened..." the tree whispered loudly.

 

"What has happened?" The Man says harshly.

 

"All good things inevitably end, my child. So has this."

 

"I want an explanation!" The Man screams at the tree in anger.

 

"Your wife is perfect, and so is your daughter. They are too good for you now. Your wife, as perfect as she is, has one major flaw! She is too good! Thus, she has been unfaithful, and now, in order to get you out of her way, will eventually kill you. Your daughter has just been such a 'good girl' that she's listening to mommy, because she's also a woman!"

 

"Damn you..." The Man said under his breath.

 

"Now, make a wish, or parish!" the tree said, it's heads starting to look at him, as if they were preparing to kill their prey.

 

"I wish..." The Man said, going back into his mind, for his greatest want in the world.

 

"Hurry... I'm getting impatient...,” the tree said, as it's hands were about to strangle him.

 

"I wish that all my wishes and their consequences were undone, that I was back at the time I made the first wish, and that you were destroyed!" The Man said looking at the tree that was frowning on all its faces.

 

"So you wish it... so it shall be...,” the tree said, in a sad voice.

 

The tree's mouth opened and millions of golden souls flew out, circling the top of the tree. The tree burst into flames, and The Man's wife and daughter both disappeared, becoming two of the souls.

 

The souls then circled The Man. He screamed as he went back eight years into his youth. He blacked out.

 

The man awoke, in the center of the dark forest. He remembered all eight years that had happened, but looking at his digital watch, saw it was the day he first found the tree. He stood, and looked in front of himself.

 

He turned, and walked away, now with his own new story.

 

The woman he killed had never been killed at all now, and everything was as it was before he found the tree, except his memory.

 

Behind him, there was a smoking stump covered in ash. As he stepped along his path out of the forest, he heard something.

 

It may, very well have been the wind, but he could have sworn he heard the stump say,

 

 

"So you wish it, so it shall be..."