Birch and green holly, boys
Birch and green holly
If you get beaten, boys
"Twill be your own folly
They did this to themselves, Holly thought. Those stupid boys down at the schoolyard should not have poked fun at her. For a certainty, they shouldn't have called her grandmother a witch, even if she was one. Still, she felt a tinge of guilt in thinking about what the Ent might do to them.
Her grandmother had warned her of the dangers. "A monster you shall bring into this world," she'd said, "A monster of birch and green holly, a breathing tree, a fighting tree, a vengeful tree: an Ent."
But Holly wanted them to pay. She was not fool enough to pick a fight with the older boys herself, but she had other ways. Her grandmother's spellbook, for one. She'd found the illustrated ritual of Ent growing on page one thousand fifty four. It all seemed simple enough: one birch trunk wreathed in holly, a face carved into the bark along with the names. Richard Braxely Gables, she'd carved. Three of the worst bullies at school. It would be a good start. Let's see how they tease me after this, she thought.
The preparations complete, she recited the magic words over the birch trunk and green holly. After she was finished, she waited, fidgeting with her fingers. For a long while all was still. The only sound was the wind rustling through the autumn leaves overhead. Then, the creaking of wood, a low organic groan, and the Ent awakened.
It was tall and slender, like the birch that had birthed it. Green holly sprouted from the creatures head and fists. Sap was bleeding from its eyes. The Ent frightened her to behold.
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| The Ent of Birch and Holly |
"You're perfect," she said to the creature. "Go forth and beat those silly stupid boys purple!"
The Ent did not respond, only looked past her, through her, and shook the stagnant years from its branches. The trunk split with a thunderous crack, and two feet uprooted themselves from the mossy ground. The Ent took its first step. Then a second. And soon it had disappeared from Holly's view entirely. She was left with a forest full of the Ent's motionless cousins and an uneasy bitterness in the pit of her stomach.
The next day at school, Richard, Braxely, and Gables encircled her in the yard and pelted her with rotting tomatoes. The only thing that stopped her from crying was her confusion. She cursed the Ent and the spellbook, and her grandmother for making her believe in the power of witches.
Little did Holly know that the Ent still wanders the earth to this very day, searching endlessly for its victim, for the man called "Richard Braxely Gables."
Always remember the importance of proper grammar when working spells, her grandmother always told her. But Holly never listened.
Author's Note:
I had a lot of fun with this one. The nursery rhyme was very open ended, so it gave me a lot of creative freedom. I didn't come up with the ending until halfway through it, when I noticed my mistake by forgetting the commas in the three boys' names.
Bibliography: This story is based on the nursery rhyme "Birch and green holly" from the Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang (1897).
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI think this is the most creative story I have read from our class so far. At first it seemed to be a horror story, like many people in our class wrote, but I liked how the ending turned out to be a humorous life lesson. I also think it is impressive that you came up with all that just from a 4 line nursery rhyme. Thanks for sharing with us.
Your story was fun. I enjoyed reading it very much. The tone of it dramatically changed at the end. I was waiting for the Ent to pop out from somewhere when she was all alone and attack her instead of the boys. It’s a life lesson for everyone to use proper grammar, or face the consequence of their message never being truly understood correctly
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely story, it reminded me a lot of Neil Gaiman. He’s really good at intertwining the fantastical, magical and nature together. I really hope the story is continued somehow, for another assignment. My favorite part is how the story or revenge backfired. It’s basically saying that revenge is never the answer and that revenge has dire consequences. I think that’s wonderful! Great job
ReplyDeleteWow, it's seriously impressive that this is what you were able to come up with based on such vague prompt! Your creativity is evident throughout, from the concept itself to the cleverness of the twist ending.
ReplyDeleteI knew as soon as I saw that you're an aspiring writer I needed to see what you had come up with for this assignment, and I'm so glad I did. Your descriptions are really top-notch, and even for such a brief story, the pacing kept my attention flawlessly. Well done!
I also have to second the comment comparing this to Neil Gaiman -- he's one of my favorite writers, and this definitely gave a Gaiman vibe. If you've never read Good Omens, which he wrote with Terry Pratchett, it might be a good place to start!