It was hot that summer, the sun leaching colour from the grass, her hair turning blond. The cedar survived the drought though, 100 feet tall and the trunk too large for her arms to meet around it. Still she liked to press her cheek up against the bark, feel it breathe.
One evening Alex built a bonfire, and she stood drinking with the others, trying to whoop as the sparks flew, pretending to laugh when the bird’s nest caught.
Perhaps it was the hangover, but she couldn’t raise herself, couldn’t get out of bed the next morning to see the blackened stump.
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This is a 100-word Friday Fictioneers short story inspired by the picture above (the colour of the grass started it off), this week supplied by Jan Wisoff-Fields. Click here to join in, and here to read other people’s.
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My second novel, Swimming Lessons is currently available as a give-away on Goodreads to UK readers. Click here to enter.
Claire Fuller 
“pretending to laugh” is such a wise line, Claire. This is sad and lovely
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Thanks Neil
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That’s heartbreaking for her and a lot going on here between the lines – that social pressure to go along with other people because they’ll think you weird if you disagree. The guilt she feels for standing by and watching them burn the tree down. Wonderfully told and constructed, Claire
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Thanks Lynn. Glad you got all that – hard to put it in 100 words
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A great job, Claire 🙂
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Peer pressure. We’ve all been there…
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Yep.
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I love this one.
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Love the thought of the tree breathing. Then so sad at the thoughtless vandalism.
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I know, me too.
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Not a nice fellow. Maybe she’ll return the favor and burn down the house while he’s sleeping in it.
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Maybe…next week! Thanks.
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To me this is so sad, both the peer pressure, the regrets the pretending to laugh… even the birds nest. The murder of trees make me feel sick.. so well done.
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Oh me too. I have some enormous beech trees outside my house, and they are some of my favourite things.
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I love the beech trees too!
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Good take. A bit sad that she felt she had to stand by and let her tree burn down. Captured the emotions well, especially the aftermath the next morning.
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Yes, but peer pressure can be stronger than anything sometimes. Thanks, Iain.
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Brilliantly done, Claire. All is said in that “pretending”…
My heart breaks for her.
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Thanks Dale. Sometimes it’s hard to do the right thing.
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Indeed
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We’ve all been there in our different ways, haven’t we…. Pity the poor tree (and the bird’s nest) for being caught in this particular adolescent storm – assuming Alex & co are adolescents, of course. And, yes, ‘…feel it breathe’ is SUCH a lovely phrase.
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Thanks Louise!
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Oh how I hate it when people goad you into doing something you shouldn’t do. I think the aftermath is a form of self-hate because you didn’t have the guts to say no and stand up to it.
Nice writing as usual, Claire. Stunning! 🙂
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Dear Claire,
Cedar of Lebanon is one of the most moving stories you’ve ever published for your readers in FF. So much is spoken between the lines, from hope for the tree in spite of the loss of the nest, to her unwillingness to rise and see in the daylight the enormity of her crime. Your writing is a gift to us all. Thank you for giving.
Yours,
Doug
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What a lovely thing to say Doug – thank you. And nice to see you here again.
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I think we all have that one moment of destruction in our past that we wish we could take back … nicely done. 🙂
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Thank you. One…or two…
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Elegant, poignant, and beautifully crafted.
A masterpiece.
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Ahh, thanks so much. Sorry for the lack of recording…I have a cold and there would have been a lot of snuffling
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Where are the Rivers of Babylon when you need them?
As Smoky Bear would say, “Only you, can prevent forest fires.”
Tightly written tale, Claire.
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I don’t know Smoky Bear, but I can imagine him. Thanks!
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Nicely written, poignant tale. It has a resonance for me as I once asked some people why they had felled a perfectly healthy old oak. They said it was dead. I said, “How are all these branches on the ground full of leaf, then?” They became sheepish and shrugged, but the deed was done.
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Such a sad story. My OH felled a damson tree while I was at work. He said it was dead but it had fruited abundantly that year. Never forgotten.
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A tragic story of loss on so many levels. Very moving.
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Oh what a sad outcome for the old Cedar. Great story.
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A sad story, indicative of both sides of human nature, those who do wrong, and those who stand by and let them. Beautifully done.
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Some people just do not appreciate the beauty of nature. So hard for one who does to feel pressured into laughing at its destruction.
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You capture the character’s voice and emotions perfectly Claire.
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Thanks, Adrian.
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Such a sad story, Claire. Peer pressure has a lot to answer for. Great writing. —- Suzanne
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Claire, a wonderfully constructed and moving story.
A few years ago, some students made a DVD opposing bullying and it raised the role of the bystander. Their message was not to be a bystander.
Groups and crowds can do things which the participants would never do as individuals. Somehow, we need to keep our minds switched on and keep thinking for ourselves…no matter how old or young we are.
I am also quite a tree lover and such reckless destruction makes me feel sick. We’ve lost a lot of trees along our beach in the last couple of years and each new casualty, breaks my heart. It’s awful seeing them uprooted on the sand looking like dead bodies!
xx Rowena
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