The Face In The Wood

They were a tree hugger and loved nature, wandering through meadows by hedgerows taking delight in the birdsong they heard and the creatures they saw such as field mice scurrying around.

Walking through the trees, they thought they could hear voices sometimes, but were not sure whether it was their imagination or the wind blowing through the leaves. Loving the trees they hugged them and were shocked when they thought they could see a face in the bark.

Was it a face or was it natural, they were sure that there were eyes, a nose and a moth, but then it may have just been imagination working overtime. Giving the tree a final hug they wandered on seeing no more faces in the bark of the trees they hugged.

Another day they were in the small wood and found the tree once more, they thought but while they gave it a hug the face was not there. Had they imagined it? They wondered if the tree had genders like humans but were likely to be two-spirit beings more than anything else, trees were trees.

The third tree had a different face. They asked the tree a question:

"Are you real? Are you a tree spirit, a dryad or something?"

The face did not move and the mouth did not answer, they gave the tree a hug and moved on. There were no more faces that day.

At home, drinking a cup of nettle tea they wondered about the faces. Were they projecting themselves onto the trees or were the trees revealing themselves? They did not know but they would be there every day and if the trees or the spirits chose to reveal themselves then they would be happy.

Who knows the secrets the trees and their keeper could reveal? Were the trees receptacles for souls who had left their human or animal bodies they wondered, although all the faces they had seen looked human.

Maybe one day they would be given a revelation, but until that day they would enjoy the beauty of nature, and keep hugging the trees and looking for faces in the wood, and talking to them when they found them.

On day a face might reply ......