This Cursed Forest

I’m not exactly sure how long ago it happened. I only know that it did. There had been some vital task to complete, and the time for doing so was running quite short. I had made it to the final altar, I’d beaten the last of their armies, and I’d bowed to their deity. But none of it had been enough.

I needed to have made the offering only a minute sooner. The price of failure…

My freedom.

I have been trapped in place of the altar, as a warped but beautiful tree. My surroundings are both eerie and serene, the ambiance peacefully creepy. There’s a small pond that wraps around the ground at my feet, and it glows the same crimson that I bled all those years ago. My part of this forest is deathly, but just a short distance away is an ethereal glow that calls to my soul. It remains out of my reach no matter how far these branches may reach.

Until now.

Hope arrived in the form of a child, her silly little mother deciding to make the edge of the pond their new home. Oh, they built a small cabin, and grew a tiny garden. Life was grand for but a time.

But I watched on eagerly. At first, merely entertained. Eventually, even I could see the possibilities. If I could simply get the child close enough, capture her attention…

So, I let my leaves loose, and put on an earthy show. The little girl giggled and raced toward my waving arms. I moved gracefully and slow, ever mindful of the little girl’s whereabouts.

One moment the little girl was playing innocently through this cursed forest, and the next…