Page 15 - FICTION
P. 15
FICTION
It wasn’t even an especially big storm, just one of He cut off a few of the biggest branches, just so
the sort of gales you get in the fall. Perhaps the as he could get better access to the trunk, but then
ground was bit softer than usual following the wet he decided to cut off the root. It took him a while
summer. Maybe the tree was carrying a bit more to work round, but the tree being hollow an’ all
leaf than usual, or maybe it was just that it’s time mean’s his chainsaw blade was long enough for the
had come. Anyway, whatever the reason, that was job and pretty soon the whole root part fell away.
the night Davey’s oak died.
I don’t know exactly who it was who noticed it frst.
And you might think that would pretty much be Betty, from the pub, says it was her, but Jim Bently
about the end of it, a bit of a discussion point for a swears it was him. No matter, pretty soon everyone
few days, a bit of clearing up, and a bit of a gap in knew about it and wandered down to see it for
the landscape ‘til we got used to it. But that was the themselves. It weren’t long afore there was quite a
day that Davey’s life changed forever. Well, I guess little crowd standing round the cut end of Davey’s
that life changed for all of us a little on that day. oak all expressing their own opinions. There was a
few folk taking photos, too, mostly using the cam-
No one knew where Davey came from. He’d just eras in their mobile phones. Some of ‘em was tak-
always been there. A cantankerous old man in an ing pictures of the tree and some of ‘em was taking
old cottage at the edge of the village with a few pictures of each other standing in front of the tree.
ramshackle sheds and a couple of felds. I sup- At the beginning, Davey even stood by the tree
pose he must have been young once, but no one himself and let a couple of folk take pictures of him
could remember when. Some folks said that there standing by it, but all the while he was thinking and
was once a mother, but she’d died so long ago no he carried on thinking long after all the village folk
one could remember a great deal about her either. had gone home for the night.
What’s more, no one knew how Davey existed.
He sometimes had the odd animal on his felds, Now, I know I haven’t told you yet what it was that
but they weren’t large felds and he was certainly Betty and all those other folk saw, but I’m coming
no farmer. The hedges were unkempt, the ditches to that. What those folk saw, or thought they saw,
uncleared and the sheds falling down. He pretty was that the shape of the dark stained rot on the
much kept to himself apart from his essential shop- cut white end of that tree trunk looked exactly like a
ping. He left other folks alone and other folks pretty portrait of Jesus. And I have to say that I seen it my-
much left him alone. There’s probably a thousand self and it sure did look a whole lot like the pictures
like him all over the country. He wasn’t that un- we used to have in Sunday School when I was a
usual. kid. In fact it was pretty damned realistic, I would
say. Almost three dimensional. Almost like the eyes
Anyway, the day the old oak tree fell down a few were following you when you moved around.
folk paused from going about their business to look
at the great trunk lying on the ground with it’s bro- You’d think it would be about that. Interesting. Curi-
ken branches and with it’s roots pointing up to the ous to a degree. A talking point for a few days in
sky. They swapped a few tales about climbing the the pub, but essentially, just a rotten oak tree that
tree as youngsters, or carving their names in the had fallen down in a storm with a pattern in the
bark, or meeting their lovers there. Davey came out trunk that had a passing resemblance to Jesus. But
to inspect the damage, but he didn’t waste a whole Davey saw things different. Davey saw potential.
lot of energy passing the time of day with the daw-
dlers, just headed back off to one of his sheds for The following morning, the few folks who’d heard
a chainsaw. about the face of Jesus, but who hadn’t seen if for
Independent Media Inspiring Minds 15
It wasn’t even an especially big storm, just one of He cut off a few of the biggest branches, just so
the sort of gales you get in the fall. Perhaps the as he could get better access to the trunk, but then
ground was bit softer than usual following the wet he decided to cut off the root. It took him a while
summer. Maybe the tree was carrying a bit more to work round, but the tree being hollow an’ all
leaf than usual, or maybe it was just that it’s time mean’s his chainsaw blade was long enough for the
had come. Anyway, whatever the reason, that was job and pretty soon the whole root part fell away.
the night Davey’s oak died.
I don’t know exactly who it was who noticed it frst.
And you might think that would pretty much be Betty, from the pub, says it was her, but Jim Bently
about the end of it, a bit of a discussion point for a swears it was him. No matter, pretty soon everyone
few days, a bit of clearing up, and a bit of a gap in knew about it and wandered down to see it for
the landscape ‘til we got used to it. But that was the themselves. It weren’t long afore there was quite a
day that Davey’s life changed forever. Well, I guess little crowd standing round the cut end of Davey’s
that life changed for all of us a little on that day. oak all expressing their own opinions. There was a
few folk taking photos, too, mostly using the cam-
No one knew where Davey came from. He’d just eras in their mobile phones. Some of ‘em was tak-
always been there. A cantankerous old man in an ing pictures of the tree and some of ‘em was taking
old cottage at the edge of the village with a few pictures of each other standing in front of the tree.
ramshackle sheds and a couple of felds. I sup- At the beginning, Davey even stood by the tree
pose he must have been young once, but no one himself and let a couple of folk take pictures of him
could remember when. Some folks said that there standing by it, but all the while he was thinking and
was once a mother, but she’d died so long ago no he carried on thinking long after all the village folk
one could remember a great deal about her either. had gone home for the night.
What’s more, no one knew how Davey existed.
He sometimes had the odd animal on his felds, Now, I know I haven’t told you yet what it was that
but they weren’t large felds and he was certainly Betty and all those other folk saw, but I’m coming
no farmer. The hedges were unkempt, the ditches to that. What those folk saw, or thought they saw,
uncleared and the sheds falling down. He pretty was that the shape of the dark stained rot on the
much kept to himself apart from his essential shop- cut white end of that tree trunk looked exactly like a
ping. He left other folks alone and other folks pretty portrait of Jesus. And I have to say that I seen it my-
much left him alone. There’s probably a thousand self and it sure did look a whole lot like the pictures
like him all over the country. He wasn’t that un- we used to have in Sunday School when I was a
usual. kid. In fact it was pretty damned realistic, I would
say. Almost three dimensional. Almost like the eyes
Anyway, the day the old oak tree fell down a few were following you when you moved around.
folk paused from going about their business to look
at the great trunk lying on the ground with it’s bro- You’d think it would be about that. Interesting. Curi-
ken branches and with it’s roots pointing up to the ous to a degree. A talking point for a few days in
sky. They swapped a few tales about climbing the the pub, but essentially, just a rotten oak tree that
tree as youngsters, or carving their names in the had fallen down in a storm with a pattern in the
bark, or meeting their lovers there. Davey came out trunk that had a passing resemblance to Jesus. But
to inspect the damage, but he didn’t waste a whole Davey saw things different. Davey saw potential.
lot of energy passing the time of day with the daw-
dlers, just headed back off to one of his sheds for The following morning, the few folks who’d heard
a chainsaw. about the face of Jesus, but who hadn’t seen if for
Independent Media Inspiring Minds 15
