It was that same day again, November seventh, and I didn’t expect that would change my life in a blink because of a photo.
That day, my instinct took charge of what I was supposed to do. I picked up my backpack, which I had filled with my necessary stuff: a blanket for my solo picnic, face towels, some sandwich, a couple of books, and, of course, some water. Then, I went to the kitchen to bid my grandma goodbye, and she handed me her favorite basket woven from flax.
“Fill this with beautiful flowers you find along the way,” she said.
I took the basket from her and hugged her tight before putting on my hiking gear. I grabbed my camping set on my way out.
I had always loved staying at my granny’s house to celebrate my birthday. I didn’t want to be out in a bar drinking and being wild with my friends. I’d rather spend time with the literal wild animals in the forest, close to nature. And the best place for me to be one with the environment was here… in Granny’s humble abode, a house in the middle of the glade surrounded by tall trees, not a concrete jungle.
City life for a country girl like me was a bit too much. Too boisterous and chaotic—things I couldn’t stand being in. I need to go to a university, and I had no choice that was why I stayed there.
I was already a few walks away from Granny’s place when a bush of wild tiger orchids caught my attention. Its yellow petals with brown spots were like dancing fairies, waving me to pluck them. But I stopped and instead went on my journey. The whistling cool breeze of the mountains was calling me. The swaying, dancing branches of the gigantic trees beckoned me to follow them so I can dance with nature. The melodious singing birds pitched their most lovely tune just to invite me to come over.
‘I’ll just pick those flowers on my way home,’ I told myself. That was at least I knew I did, but I almost drop my heart when someone—a tiny voice—whispered in my ear.
“Pick them now to save yourself from harm. Those flowers will be your lucky charm.”
“Who’s there?” I called out and looked behind me, only to see bushes and vines aside from trees. “I must be hungry that I’m hearing things.”
I paced towards the dense forest without checking where the voice came from.
**
I reached another glade in no time.
Smiling ear to ear, I hurriedly unpacked my blanket on the grass-carpeted ground and sat there while preparing my breakfast.
I always loved to be one with nature, but I couldn’t explain why. Something inside me rejoiced whenever I think of trees and the forest as if I was one of them… as if I came from them like I was the child of the wilderness.
After setting my tent, I went for a walk with my umbrella. Who knew when the rain would fall? I could also use it as my walking stick if I needed to climb a steep slope.
I was so enthralled while walking through a pathway filled with a gallimaufry of flowers; I couldn’t decide which one to pick first because all of them were magnificent, that they even glistened like diamonds under the early morning rays.
Wait. The flowers were, literally, shimmering!
I rushed to the bushes to check if my eyes were playing tricks on me. And they weren’t.
“How could this be?” I gasped.
“You’re finally seeing it,” someone said. It was the same voice from earlier.
This time a silhouette stepped out of the bushes of the floras I was looking at. It was a talking tree.
A talking female tree!
My reflexes were quick to speed away from the weird creature. I sprinted and scampered away like a frightened deer that had seen a hunter.
“Gabby, wait!”
I heard her call, but I ignored her. I kept running until I reached a deserted cemetery. There was a cemetery in the middle of this forest!
Though shocked, I kept walking until I stumbled upon a graveyard. And on the tombstone was scribbled the name ‘Gabrielle Danes,’ with my photo, and my birthday.
Why was my name written on someone’s tombstone?
Why was my photo and birthday in there, too?
My brain exploded. ‘Boom!’ My knees buckled as my feet turned icy and glued to the ground. I was lost for words. Then, my surroundings swayed and spun like I was sucked into a whirlpool until everything went black.
**
When I opened my eyes, the familiar vibe of my room back at Grandma’s house greeted me. My old lady smiled. I didn’t see it. I just knew she did.
“Oh, my! Good thing you’re back,” she said.
“How did I get here?”
“Long story. You passed out because of exhaustion.”
She was lying. We both knew I was fit enough not to be unconscious of my camping trips.
“I saw my name and my photo on a grave,” I blurted. No beating around the bush.
“Ah. So, you’ve found it.”
I got up at her response. She didn’t seem surprised.
“What do you mean, I’ve found it?”
Without a word, Grandma walked out of my room. And when she went back, she had a mirror with her.
It was the first time I saw a mirror in her house.
“That face and name weren’t yours. You just borrowed them from the girl who died several years ago.”
She handed me the mirror. But when I lifted it to see my face, my jaw dropped.
The round thing in my hand reflected a tree trunk with a woman’s face. The woman I saw earlier.
“What’s going on?” I cried, and when I tried to wipe my tears, I saw a branch with twigs instead of a hand with fingers.
“Your glamour has worn out. You’re not going back to the city,” Grandma said.
:) Musta! How u doin?
Hello, :)
👋😎
This post has been selected to be curated by hive learners community. Hive Learners is a community where we teach people about all they need to know about Hive.
Kindly click on the link below to visit our community and check out our discord channel.
https://discord.gg/ByK6j5dnNc
Thank you for acknowledging my post. :)
What a unique and remarkable story, @idlemind. This tale is a great example of magical realism — a wonderful genre for those who like to create realistic tales with splashes of fantasy. There's a lot going on here. In the end, we may not fully understand what has happened to Gabby, but we are stunned and deeply moved by the journey.
@theinkwell Thank you for appreciating my story. Comments like this one help me develop my writing skills. :)
@idlemind, I think you need to change your Hive name. Your mind is not idle at all! 😄
I really loved this story. It is a rich experience for the reader to join up with Gabrielle on her walk through the woods and meadows. It seems like a very symbolic journey as she comes to a place and time where she must face the reality of who she is.
Also, I learned the word gallimaufry, which I have never heard before in my life!
@jayna Thank you so much for loving the story, admin.
I might stick to my Hive name (for the irony) 😄, though I must admit my mind does get idle at times, especially when I'm famished. 😆
I stumbled upon that word while I was having a hard time thinking about how to translate a Tagalog term to English. 😅
One of my favorite tools for finding new words is www.thesaurus.com. If you translate a word, you could enter it into the thesaurus and see what other options come up.
Thank you for this admin @jayna. I'll use this for my future writing 😊
What a delightful, fantastical tale! I enjoyed going camping with Gabby. Your vivid description of the scenes are delicately exquisite and I loved them. Could it be that Gabby cried because she wanted her own identity separate from the original Gabrielle?
Bravo, you did great with this story. Well done!
@kemmyb I'm glad that you loved reading Gabby's story :)
She probably felt broken because of what happened, and I feel sorry for her.
Receiving a compliment from a contest winner like you makes me feel like a winner, too. :)
Congratulations @idlemind! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s):
Your next target is to reach 4000 upvotes.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out the last post from @hivebuzz:
@hivebuzz thank you for this new badge :)
You're welcome @idlemind
You can also vote for our witness.
You will get one more badge and bigger upvotes from us when we notify you.
@hivebuzz done voting :)
Thank you for your support @idlemind, much appreciated!
Great twist at the end. I didn't see that coming and I thought you were going to use the often overused trope that some writers fall into of it all being a dream etc.
So she was an ent all along. The only part I didn't get was if she was seeing a reflection of herself in the forest or another tree woman? Or was it all a dream but she had transformed into an ent woman?
Either way, I liked the story @idlemind
Some strong and beautiful imagery, mixed with fluid descriptions of nature and the forest, will always capture me as I'm a child of nature also. I live in the city but never feel happier than when I'm out in wild places.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your short story 🙂
Thank you for appreciating and enjoying my story, and I'm over the moon because of the compliment. :)
I'd like to say that what she saw was a premonition of what's to happen to her.
@idlemind, thank you for supporting the HiveBuzz project by voting for our witness.
Click on the badge to view your Board of Honor.
Once again, thanks for your support!
Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:
What great imagination you've got. So Gabby was really from the trees after all. It is no wonder she felt so strongly about nature. Your description immense me completely into the story. I wish you more ink on your pen.
@kei2 I'm glad that you liked it. :)
How I wish I could be consistent in narrating this way. As of the moment, writer's block is waving again. 😅
😮Shocking, I couldn't foresee anything from this story. It was fabulous, although it left me with a lot of unanswered questions haha I think I will need the second part of it to unravel some mysteries 😅
I purposely did that to let the readers finish the story themselves. :)
Thank you for appreciating my story @marbrym .
Sure, that's a good ending. Each reader decides. Very good 😉
@marbrym thank you :)
Congratulations, @idlemind! Your story has been chosen for the weekly #theinkwell magazine and has received a vote from Curie. Please keep supporting the community by commenting on other writers' stories.
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@theinkwell/the-ink-well-highlights-magazine-51
@theinkwell thank you for making my story part of your magazine again.
I'm late to the party, lol. But I'm glad I found your story in the Ink Well highlights post. Enjoyed the flow of your story, truly packed to the brim with a powerful (and magical) punch at the end. It's just funny that the highlights post took an excerpt that was somewhat of a spoiler haha.
Btw, what's the Tagalog word for gallimaufry you mentioned in one of the comments?
@jazzhero I was searching for the word that would fit "samu't sari", that's how I stumbled upon the word gallimaufry.
So that was the word. I can't find it on Google Translate XD Thanks for answering my curiosity. Great job with the story!
I don't use google translate because it's a word-per-word translation at times. I choose words based on the definition and function in the sentence. 😊 Thanks again.
Your story is full of magic and fantasy, I liked a lot besides the natural environment that you gave him, I congratulate you for the way you were narrating the story in the voice of the protagonist and kept me in expectation to know the end.
Regards @idlemind
@popurri thank you for liking my story and commending my writing style. :) It makes me want to write more :)
This was wonderful, spellbinding in fact. I loved the tree spirit that either lives within her or is the true reflection of her inner self. A beautifully crafted story, Idlemind... I guess when you all ow you mind to be idle, it gets way creative on you !LUV !ALIVE !PIZZA
@samsmith1971(9/10) gave you LUV.
tools | wallet | discord | community | <>< daily
HiveBuzz.me NFT for Peace
@idlemind! You Are Alive so I just staked 0.1 $ALIVE to your account on behalf of @samsmith1971. (5/10)
The tip has been paid for by the We Are Alive Tribe through the earnings on @alive.chat, feel free to swing by our daily chat any time you want.
PIZZA Holders sent $PIZZA tips in this post's comments:
@samsmith1971(5/10) tipped @idlemind (x1)
Learn more at https://hive.pizza.
Wow...nice story
It was a beautiful tale going camp with Gabby.
At first, I saw that the publishing date was April, I was like how come this post is featuring in dreemport now, but going through the post, I enjoyed the reading 😇👍👏
@nkemakonam89 thank you for liking my story. I just tried to post it in dreemport because I was encouraged by some of my fellow hivers.
Hello, good morning, your story is very nice and outstanding? it is original? it teaches you a lot of things! good post, found thanks to @dreemport
This is captivating, I am well pleased after reading, who would have thought she was a tree? Awesome work.
@balikis95 thank you ^_^. You're an exceptional writer yourself as well.
Thanks for the acknowledgment, maybe we can write together someday ☺☺.
@balikis95 We should try this. I'm looking forward. 😊
So am I 🤗🤗.
Hehe this story made me glued to the screen of yours rofl...Well I must say that you know how to take cool pictures. This story is a very interesting one.
@cescajove thank you for appreciating my story.
Extremely cool storyline @idlemind!!! Beautiful with a couple of super cool twists! I really liked the ending, you have a pretty tweaky imagination!!!
This post was obtained through Dreemport.
@jamerussell I'm grateful for the appreciation.