Sinister Trees

Long grasping vines were reaching for him from the sinister dark trees. Hearing loud screams, he tried to engulf himself in safety, covering himself with thorny branches which scraped his very essence and left his soul raw. Scratching a small eye hole in the arms of the forest, he was able to see a man beating and stabbing a helpless woman. Although he knew he should do something to stop this brutality, he remained motionless, holding in his words and breathing in silver drops of cowardice. “I have no strength to skirmish with evil,” he told himself.

His self-hatred consumed him in red waves of futility but still he remained silent. He timidly waited for the abuser’s anger and emotion to calm its storm before venturing forth. Still, he did not approach the woman, even though the avenging intruder was no longer present.

He began to gallop toward the clearing at the edge of the forest. “I’ll get help when I get there,” he promised himself. He gasped in panic but began to see beams of light tiptoeing toward him. Racing frantically, he turned his head to make sure no one was following him. Bam! He ran into what seemed to be a large sheet of glass, which shattered in shards around him, piercing his body in bloody trails. Falling on the ground in anguish, he surveyed the blood dripping from his body. He picked up a shard of the glass and was astonished to see that it was a mirror. He frantically chanced taking a peek and saw reflections of his own face and body, covered in blood. Finally, it dawned on him that the mirror could tell no lies. It was he who was the perpetrator!