Friday Fictioneers – The Last

~ neilmacdon
js-brand-tree
Photo Prompt © J. S. Brand

It was the last. The very last tree. Arboriculturists exerted their best efforts. Gardeners mulched. Museum directors curated with a cordon to keep woodpeckers at bay.

I knew it was special, sure. But it seemed so ordinary. The world’s final tree should look amazeballs. Arms hugging the trunk’s girth, I put my ear to the bark and listened to its soul. The creature spoke to me of age and pain. Sculpting with a chainsaw, I revealed that soul, its whorls and hieroglyphs.

“Umm, dude,” Bobby whined, “You didn’t strip the bark all the way round? Right?”

 

 

Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here

76 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers – The Last”

  9. The stark reality of your title and the repetition of the words in the first two sentences made my blood run cold as I imagined a world with no trees. I was somewhat comforted by the narrator hugging the tree and listening to what it had to tell him but plunged into despair by the inevitable outcome of his actions. Such an emotive piece, Neil. A powerful piece of writing.

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  28. A great lesson which may never be learned. Did you make up amazeballs? I love it and just might put it in my repertoire. Few will notice, they expect me to be weird. Great take, Neil. I cringed the minute the chainsaw came out.

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