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Short Stories




Beyond Death by Robert A Ferguson A short piece on a love reaching through war and beyond death. [275 words]
The Man by Mike McWade The Man takes a break from the stiffs at work only to run into more. [1,243 words]
The Ballerina by Ashley Miranda Mary loves ballet and studies at a ballet school, but she sure is shaken up when she finds out th... [1,333 words]
The Exploits Of Tal'on Kepp by Michael Harris This is a short story set in my Chronicles of Zefaria series. I hope that all enjo... [2,542 words]
Better With Age by J Shartzer A young couple enjoy their new home, and a barrel of brandy... [1,117 words]
Randy And Sarah by Z E S Carothers A story about two young kids. A boy that lives by himself in the forest and a girl that is his ... [3,211 words]
You Don't Have To Talk... by Harvey Kennett When you are shy, and cannot find the words to say, say nothing. [607 words]
Wto Rally The Final by E Rocco Caldwell Joe has a rude awakening. [548 words]
Why Must You by Lucy Midnight - [1,593 words]
What If I... by Lucy Midnight Campfire Tales. [1,076 words]
Waiting In The Desert by Mihai Pruna The caravan pulled off the interstate on a county road. Soon they abandoned that as well ... [1,850 words]
The Unwanted by Lucy Midnight Campfire Tales. [2,159 words]
The Tower by P J Francis A man wrestles with his actions. [226 words]
The Sucidal Games by Lucy Midnight Internet Relations. [1,029 words]
The Story Of The Blanket by Patti Merrill A short story. [668 words]
The Spectator by Harry Buschman The story of a deaf man's contribution to the war on terror. [2,240 words]
The Rich Little Chipmunk by John C Popiel This is a story about how a five dollar bill travels through three different people an... [707 words]
The Mansion by Laura Depriest This is a short story for young readers about aging and leading a full life in the context of livin... [2,923 words]
The Magic Lamp by Somdev Mukherjee A story about Varun - a little boy brought up in a busy modern city with all its problems for th... [1,092 words]
The Holly Tree
The Guitar Man by Jason Taylor The Bloodman A war veteran flips out. [499 words]
The Friends by Lucy Midnight ... [1,416 words]
The Forces Between by Lucy Midnight ... [977 words]
The Cubicle by D G Williford Working in a box and what is does to the psyche... [104 words]
The Adventuresof Archie 5b - The Army Surplus Salesman's Tale by Xoggoth Continued. [1,116 words]
The Adventures Of Archie 7 - The Puzzleman's Tale by Xoggoth Archie finds he is not alone in the valley. He shares it with... [2,988 words]
The Adventures Of Archie 6 - A Peaceful Solution by Xoggoth Following a Little Boy explosion Archie find himself on a deso... [1,271 words]
The Adventures Of Archie 5a - The Army Surplus Salesman by Xoggoth Archie learns the truth they try and keep from us, that... [913 words]
The Adventures Of Archie 4b - The Great Regurgitato's Tale by Xoggoth Continued. [823 words]
The Adventures Of Archie 4a - The Great Regurgitato by Xoggoth Achie learns of the greats of bodily functions and meets th... [781 words]
The Adventures Of Archie 3 - The Spider Catcher's Tale. by Xoggoth Archie escapes from the paralysing purple and find hims... [1,313 words]
The Adventures Of Archie 2 - The Little Demon's Tale by Xoggoth A hell spawned satanic creature identifies too much with m... [901 words]
The Adventures Of Archie 1 - The Great Escape by Xoggoth A sort of Alice in Wonderland meets Canterbury Tales sort of thin... [473 words]
Test Song by Jeff T Kane An alien invasion seen from a religious ant's point of view. [5,341 words]
Te Quiero by Lucy Midnight Hannah and her boyfriend Cody are getting serious when Hannah learns that Cody has cancer. [1,108 words]
Room 86b by Lucy Midnight ... [2,284 words]
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Retribution And New Beginnings by Erasmus Flynt Secrets will out. [8,764 words]
Radia by Z E S Carothers The begining of one of my books. Tell me what you think about it. [814 words]
On The Bus To Town by Sam Vaknin The announcer warns of imminent terrorist attacks on public transport. It recommends to err ... [2,713 words]
Nightmare by Inchara Incident faced by a girl returning home late in the evening. [1,268 words]
Monty On The Run by James Bondjamesbond The second instalment - Monty in deeper water. [1,226 words]
Miranda And Her Doll by P J Francis A sweet little girl...or is she? [1,187 words]
Love Of The Mountains Or So They Thought by Lucy Midnight ... [1,335 words]
Like Ocean's Eleven by Higgins This story takes place in a military setting, mainly Point Barrow, Alaska. Russian officers... [1,414 words]
It Happens by Lucy Midnight - [1,634 words]
Introducing Monty Finch by James Bondjamesbond This is the first chapter of my Monty Finch series. In this first instalment our hero f... [2,432 words]
In Capable Hands by Erasmus Flynt Or are we? [212 words]
Hunters Moon by P J Francis A creature is hunted. [1,768 words]
Hook by Amanda Connison Written for the PA Govenor's School. [1,855 words]
Gold by P J Francis Lost hopes... [243 words]
Girls Vs. Boys by Lucy Midnight Madison and her boyfriend Scott break up and then he asks her to marry him and she declines. She... [2,015 words]
Girl In The Rain by Rowan Davies We always think of ourselves as individuals, until we notice that there are other individuals ... [505 words]
Expectations by Jacson A Bevens A tale about what can happen when expectations are laid aside and feelings take over. [1,220 words]
Devastation 2 by Buxton The journal piece of the only women left after the end of the world. 34 year old Emily Carter's d... [448 words]
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Black Widow by Lucy Midnight Kayli, Becky, and Eddy are three sisters that lose their only living relative left. Kayli and Eddy ... [3,096 words]
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At A Wto Rally by E Rocco Caldwell - [853 words]
At A Wto Rally (Part Three) by E Rocco Caldwell Joe gets his first lesson as to what is the consortium. [435 words]
At A Wto Rally 4 by E Rocco Caldwell Joe confront the internal workings of the consortium. [723 words]
Allefureine by Tomphil A story about a clash of cultures between a race of alien creatures and humans. [463 words]
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A Stroll Through The Beach Sands by Ravikumar Hariharan About how we lose innocence with age. [553 words]
A Perfect Crime by P J Francis One womans vengenance as a perfect crime. [1,048 words]
A Marriage Made In Heaven by P J Francis A tale of revenge. [936 words]
A Beheaded Cart by Sam Vaknin My grandfather had one love: my grandmother. A ravishing, proud, raven-haired woman. A framed r... [1,508 words]

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TITLE (EDIT)
The Holly Tree
DESCRIPTION
A dark fantasy tale.
[1,399 words]
TITLE KEYWORD
Horror
AUTHOR
P J Francis
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Just an aspiring horror writer from the UK
[August 2004]
AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (15)
A Marriage Made In Heaven (Short Stories) A tale of revenge. [936 words] [Horror]
A Perfect Crime (Short Stories) One womans vengenance as a perfect crime. [1,048 words] [Horror]
Emotion (Poetry) - [39 words]
Ghostly Figures (Poetry) - [89 words] [Horror]
Gold (Short Stories) Lost hopes... [243 words] [Horror]
Hunters Moon (Short Stories) A creature is hunted. [1,768 words] [Horror]
Insignificance (Poetry) Life's meanings and hardships. [71 words]
Life's Essence (Short Stories) - [123 words]
Miranda And Her Doll (Short Stories) A sweet little girl...or is she? [1,187 words] [Horror]
Ode To A Tramp (Poetry) We forget about people that we don't see. [220 words]
The Daemonae-The First (Novels) This is a part of a dark fantasy/horror that I am writing. [4,721 words]
The Dog (Short Stories) - [258 words]
The Eye (Short Stories) - [138 words]
The Tower (Short Stories) A man wrestles with his actions. [226 words] [Thriller]
The White Room (Short Stories) - [892 words] [Horror]
The Holly Tree
P J Francis

Gentle gold light filtered through the dappled foliage of the circle of trees. The girl joyously skipped along the worn dirt track, her long luxurious red hair glowing like molten fire, as it swung about her delicate waist. Her long green dress swished as she moved, her belt of white pearls tinkling musically together. A smile lit her face, as she raised her emerald eyes to the sky . Patches of azure poked through the dense branches, and she reached up a slender pale hand to caress the smooth bark of an ash tree laughing as a spider tickled it�s way down her arm.

     �Anu�? Why have you come�?� a voice asked quietly.

The young girl turned quickly, her red hair spilling out behind her. The spider agitatedly clambered back up to the crack of her elbow.

     �Anu, I ask again��

     �Why can I not come here, Mother?� She spied a motion in the shadows in front of her. �Why do you follow me so? Come forward and show yourself�if you dare�� her voice tinkled gently.

     �It is forbidden to come here, you know that!� the other voice replied haughtily. A figure gingerly stepped from beneath the large awkward boughs of a crooked gnarled oak. �You never listen to me, your mother, Morrigu the wise! I have only your best interests at heart.�

     �I came��

     �You always were a difficult child�

     �Mother��

     �It is dangerous here, Anu. Things happen�I can�t keep my eyes on you all the time� concern sounded in the older woman�s voice.

     �I know, mother. It is just so pretty here in the woods!� she laughed.

     �Anu!� she walked towards the young girl, her long blue dress trailing in the forest dirt. Twigs stuck fast to the deep velvet hem, and in irritation, she shook her dress free of them. �I wish that you would stay at home, you have unfinished chores that you seem to have forgotten about�again!�

     �But it is such a glorious day. And I needed to get away. Things have been so terribly sad since Owein left�� a lone silver tear trickled down her pale freckled face.

     �I am sorry about that Anu. But things have to carry on! There are chores that need to be done and life will always have a wont to continue regardless! I really am very sorry about Owein.� She reached out an aged hand, and touched her daughter gently on the shoulder. A small black spider hurried up towards the safety of the girls crimson hair. �Perhaps he will show up again? You never know. For all you know, you could have walked past him a hundred times and never known that he was there!�

     �Mother? But I would know if he was there! I think that he no longer loves me. I am not pretty enough.� Anu sighed deeply. �That is what it must be.�

     Morrigu watched her with a wary look upon her face. She remembered that as a youngster, she had looked as pretty as Anu. All of the boys in the village had wanted to dance with her. No-one wants to dance with the old crone nowadays she thought bitterly. Anu has it all.

She patted the young girl on the shoulder, �There, there, my sweet naive Anu. You will met another, I am sure of that!�

     �But I do not want another! I want my darling Owein back from where ever he has gone�

     �Anu, I have to go to the market for some bread. Are you coming with me now, my child?�

     Anu glanced at her mothers face. �I will be there soon, mother.�

     �Alright. But make sure that you! No more lingering in horrid old woods!� She strode away with another exaggerated flourish of her blue dress. �Dratted trees! Dropping their leaves and twigs everywhere. What a horrible untidy mess!� she muttered with annoyance.


Anu watched her mother�s back disappear out of sight. Lately she seems so angry, she thought in wonder, I really haven�t any idea why!


She walked towards the oak tree, where a few moments earlier her mother had been stood. �I will always have you� she murmured to the large tree, trailing a small hand down the rough ridges and contours of its bark. She pressed her face to the rough wood, �Why! I can almost hear your heart beat� she said in delight. She felt a tickle against her ear, and she raised her hand. The small spider raced into the sanctuary of her slender cupped palm. �And what are you doing here, my little friend? Earwigging? I know a place where you will be safe!� she said laughing as she gently deposited the black arachnid on to a low hanging branch. �You will look after him, my large cumbersome friend?� she asked the tree.


Anu sat in the dappled shade, nestling amongst the hoary oak roots. Wild mushrooms grew in abundance, and Anu watched mesmerised as a powder blue butterfly danced above the grey fungus with a larger white one. Their wings shimmered delicately in the sunlight.


It was dark when Anu awoke. How long have I been here? She thought in panic. She had been to the woods hundreds of times, mostly to visit the old oak tree, but had never stayed there until dark. Anu glanced about her nervously, remembering her mothers warnings of dangerous things.

     �Oh mother will be cross!� she said as she stood, dropping leaves and blades of grass from her dress.


The moon rose majestically from beneath its blanket of clouds, casting a magical silver beam into the heart of the circle of trees. A large creaking, groaning sound filled the night air, and she turned to scream , running from the protection of the oak. She spun around in fright as she saw the gnarled old tree move its branches towards her, almost as if it were imploring her for help.

Anu watched in mounting horror as the coarse bark sloughed away, revealing a tantalising glimpse of living pink flesh. Her hands fled to her mouth like pale moths caught entranced by the light of a candles flame. The bark peeled away in strips now, and somehow the ruined oak seemed to have shrunk, gradually diminishing until it resembled the shape of a man. Anu covered her eyes, all the while moaning in terror.

�Anu?� a young male voice asked her �Anu, my love?�

She turned to the sound of the voice. �Owein? Is it you?�

�Yes, my love�

She rushed over to him, and they embraced passionately. �But where have you been?� she asked him, tears streaming down her cheeks.

     �I have been here, as always! I was cursed, and set into the shape of an oak tree. I saw you, near every day. My love, you shouldn�t have seen me. I fear you will be accursed too.�

     �What have I to fear when I am with you, my dear Owein� she replied gently running a delicate hand through his head of brown curls.

   �I am accursed to spend eternity as a tree, only coming to life a few hours as the moon shines as a whole�

    �Then let us make the most of our time together, my beloved� she said as she gently kissed him.


Morning broke brightly the following day, as Morrigu trundled up towards the sacred ring of trees. A large heavy copper cauldron was slung over one crooked elbow, and the Athame shone brightly from its belt at her waist. She nudged aside the undergrowth with her thick forked stang, muttering under her breath all the while about impudent no-good lazy daughters.

Morrigu broke through to the clearing, and saw with satisfaction that the hoary old oak was still stood silently there. She looked across and saw that there was another tree close to the oak. �When did that get there�?� she pondered silently. She could see that the oak had its branches wrapped almost protectively around the slender green trunk of the other tree. �When did I plant a holly tree�?�

�What on earth�� Morrigu exclaimed as she peered closely at the young tree.A small black spider darted into the comfort of a lush curled leaf. The holly trees� waxy prickly green leaves stood up stiffly, and caught about its slender branches, a belt of delicate white pearls, shimmering softly in the gentle sunlight.


�Anu�NO�OH NO, what have I done?� Morrigu screamed in to the silent masses of trees.


�PJFrancis 2004.

     


 

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COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 2003 P J Francis
STORYMANIA PUBLICATION DATE
March 2004
NUMBER OF TIMES TITLE VIEWED
1966
 

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