Saturday Snippet: NaNoWriMo Day 20

Saturday Snippet: NaNoWriMo Day 20

This is the place. I have been feeling the memories of trees all over the forest, but this is the tree that I want for this child.

I set to work peeling the bark. I have only done this in early summer and the tree feels like it has tightened itself against winter. 

“I choose you to watch over this child, to help me find my way back to this sapling. I choose you to be the dark signpost amidst white trees and white snow that will guide me any time I want to make my way back. To show me the way when I want to come back to my little seedling and give her thanks.”

I keep talking to the tree while I work the bark slowly off. 

I slit down the trunk with a knife and then carve around the sides. I push the knife gently under the paper leather of the bark and peel slowly around the tree until the bark lets loose in one large sheet.

It is only when it releases that I realize that I am bleeding again. That my fingers are frozen, numb, and so are my cheeks. My tears have frozen in small lakes under my eyes.

The sheet of bark curls in on itself, aching for the curve and structure of the tree. I place the swaddle in the embrace of the bark, letting the natural shape coil like a hug. 

I wish there was more I could give this sapling, this life. But this was where our physical journey together ended. I chant over it before burying it as well as I can in the snow. 

The ground is too hard, frozen solid, so a little nest in the snow is the best I can do. All I can do is hope that something beautiful will grow from the destruction.

Note:

This is a snippet from the novel I am working on for NaNoWriMo. I hope you enjoy it. I’m documenting my journey each day. 

Here are the stats for today:

Progress:

Day 20 Word Count: 3896

Total Word Count: 23960

Where I Planned to Be: 34000

1667 words per day: 33340