Muddy Tree Arm Novels & Stories

It was leading them right to me, dripping water marking my path like breadcrumbs. I skidded to a halt near a dense patch of undergrowth and crouched down. My hands trembled as I grabbed a handful of mud and smeared it on my arms, legs, and face. I rubbed myself against the bark of a tree in one direction, then bolted in another, hoping to throw them off my trail.

Branches bent wrong, reaching like hands stuck mid-scream. I lift my eyes to the trunk. Claw-gouged. Jagged. Deep enough to bleed sap: A R A Y A

But the man, most likely the oracle, raised his hand and allowed her to pass. “This is the wisdom tree,” Mila muttered as she touched the stump of the tree with her gloved hands. Everyone nodded. The stump of the three was at least five feet wide and the tree was at least twenty feet tall, with beautiful green leaves spread far and wide. Mila went to the other side of the tree, gingerly took off her glove and touched it with her bare hand. An electric charge passed through her as if the tree was telling her something. “You can speak,” Mila muttered to the tree. “I can feel you are talking to me, but I cannot understand what you want to tell me.”

Not knowing proved better. Michael threw his foot onto the fallen tree—it groaned under his weight. His sneaker covered in mud and the green ink of crushed leaves. Leapt over it. Landed on his knees. Out of sight. The Beast stepped into the clearing. The tree was long and bulky. A blackened crack ran its length from where a lightning bolt had likely struck it down. Because the clearing wasn’t even, the tree propped up, creating a space between its bark and the ground, like a storage unit under a flight of stairs. With the branches and vines hanging along its sides, it made for the perfect hiding spot, a convenient tent for Michael to slide under.

“This way. The tree should be just beyond this ridge.” They trekked onward, the excitement building with each passing moment. Eventually, they arrived at a small clearing, and there it stood—the old tree, its massive trunk gnarled and twisted, with roots that snaked out like ancient fingers gripping the earth. “Wow,” Jace breathed, taking in the sight. “It’s incredible.” Mia stepped closer, her eyes sparkling. “It feels alive, like it’s watching us.” Elara began sketching the tree, capturing its majesty and the intricate details of its bark. “This is going to be a beautiful illustration for our story.”

It collapses into dust. The bones inside — the ancient Alpha — fall free. They don’t hit the ground. They turn to light. Green and gold. It shoots straight up through the stone, through the earth, to the new Tree above. On our comms, Sky gasps. “Wren! The D.C. Tree just — it just grew fifty feet! It’s… crying. Sap like tears.” One down. Eleven to go. Eli moves to the next tree. Then Draven. Then me.

Mia found herself standing in front of the great old tree. It however looked very different this time. It had shades of grey between it's leaves. Mia rubbed her eyes to check properly if indeed it was true or was she seeing things. Suddenly she felt a strong pull. She tried resisting with her hands by ended up being tangled in the branches that were coming down like creepers that were mobile. It was like Mia was getting sandwiched between the ground pushing her towards the Tree and the vines trying to tangle her in its grip.

???'s POV Dimitri tilted his head upwards, staring intensely at the tree. "Because this is not a tree." Carson laughed, "What you mean this ain't a tree," he wrapped his legs and arms around the tree trunk in an attempt to climb it. The tree started to ooze a gooey substance, sticking Carson to its body. "Carson, get the fuck down and come over here," Zander implored. "Alpha, I'm trying, but I can't," Carson whined as his body wiggled trying to get free, but it was like his body was superglued to the tree.

I hear him call and I quickly open the door, revealing his now clothed chest. "Sorry, I'm done," I slip past him with my arms crossed but he manages to stop me. Carefully he lifts up my wounded arm and looks at it. "It doesn't hurt too bad anymore, I just have to..." "Jesus Isabella, how did you manage to do this?" He peers down at me. "Well, my arms were wrapped around the trunk because the branch I was on cracked, so I just kept slipping down," I explain. He sighs and runs his hand through his dark hair. "Please, no more tree climbing."