The Last Vote of Evergreen Hollow

Today is Small Town Election Day - when small communities vote on what matters.

Small voices matter - when sounded together.

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🌿Evergreen was a town at almost perpetual rest - one where activity crawled. Shops opened late; restaurants shut right after dinner.

And its people seemed to tread with the help of walking canes.

A dense forest fringed the edge of the town, its thick shrubbery rustling like gentle whispers. The weight of generations-old trees, leaves brown with age - pressed on one's shoulders.

Its reputation? For taking what it shouldn't have.

38-year-old Clara Moon, school teacher and avid history buff, wanted to give these tangled murmurs a more audible voice. She sensed the gravity of stories etched on every tree bark.

She was wilful about it. And notorious for that.

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🌿It was time for Evergreen to make a decision; election fever hit. Townsfolk assembled in droves at the polling station, their voices tinged with raspy excitement. The station's hall resounded with their whispers.

To preserve - or not.

Developers gathered at the gates, plans in hand. Then, quiet, materialistic murmurs about profit.

Clara's eye fell on Little Elliot. The child had wandered into the forest, his teletubby legs wobbling after a rabbit. Before long, bramble bushes grasped his ankles.

A hush fell over Evergreen. The forest had opened its mouth for -

Its prey.

Clara bit her lip. This was more than a child losing himself in the forest-it was the forest's refusal to release him.🌿

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🌿 Clara rushed into the forest, hoping to grab the child before the forest swallowed him completely.

She did discover - not a child, but a sapling grove no one thought existed.

Baby trees shaped like infant animals.

At the periphery of her vision - chainsaws and axes.

Developers and dismissive grimaces.

The trunks of the saplings twisted towards them, like sentinels marching to an errant beat.

Clara's eyes darted from one sapling to another. They stared back at her, leaves parted, almost pleading.

She wanted to help them. But that meant exposing Evergreen to their truth -

One the backwater town was not ready for.🌿

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🌿Clara was torn.

To preserve? To tell the truth?

Her solution - a new approach.

The savvy schoolteacher arranged tours for a few of the town's more open-minded residents.

Some backed away when they saw the saplings, their mouths open.

Others reached out to the leaves - and fingered them gently.

Clara faced those who dared touch - and cajoled.

"Such green magic is rare - your children need it in their meals daily, to grow."

She turned to the others, their mouths still agape.

"They frighten you. But they also protect you - your peace."

A few days later, the vote passed. Thinner than a blade of grass.

Plight mattered more than a fight. 🌿

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🌿Clara showed the way with soft hands - and won the vote.

The forest had parted its leaves quietly, revealing a clear path.

Not just one leaf or tree - piles of them.

It wasn't just one sapling that marched - they all did.

To a single beat that played in perfect rhythm -for the greater good. 🌿🌿

Original story by Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin. AI tags are coincidental.

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For Mikeydred's December Challenge