The Evermore Tree

By:Alannah Garcia | Illustration by Kamea McMillan-Zilberman

It’ll find me…! That’s all she could think about as she ran and ran and ran from a shadow monster. She ran until her lungs and legs were on fire. The shadow figure was catching up, as she ran up the hill. She could now see the large tree that sat at the top of the hill by where she lived. It will catch me soon. Her nightmares always ended by the tree for, what reason she knew not.

San woke up in cold sweats her body tangled in her many blankets. It got me…again. She’s been having the same nightmare for 3 month now, she hasn’t even told her parents about it yet. She didn’t want to tell them because she knew exactly how they would react. They would try to get her a therapist, they did when this happened before, when she was younger.

She checked the time on her alarm clock on her nightstand. 3:00. Of course it was 3:00. People called this time The Witching Hour. because bad things always happen at this time. I’m sick of this.. San has been waking up at the SAME time every night when she had the nightmares, which was almost every night by now. San rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand not trusting herself to fall asleep again. She walked over to her desk and opened her dream journal.

Lately she has been drawing things from her nightmare every night. So far this journal was almost halfway full with the stuff of her litteral nightmares. Ok what was different this time..hmmm the THING.. as she called the shadow monster in her nightmares. It was tall and very lanky, with extremely thin limbs and body. With only three fingers, long, bony, and nimble. Great for grabing and ripping her in half.

Illustration by Hawaii young author and artist Alannah Garcia from SEEQS public charter school in Honolulu, HI.

San shivered at the thought. She checked the time again 4:15 dang time sure went by fast. In about an hour she would be up and start to get ready for school. San looked out her window  at the tree on the hill which keeps appearing in her dream. Hmmmmm… what if the nightmare is CAUSED by the tree..? What if that THING comes FROM the tree. San hung on to her idea, she threw on a jacket and left her room heading outside to go look at the tree.

The night air was crisp for the middle of spring but it was still warmer than what it was just months ago. She walked up the hill and saw the tree, her mind flashing between reality and her nightmares. Her knees giving in falling beneath her.  San gripping her head. Eyes flashing util she was IN her nightmare What IS this…

She was standing at the tree, the lanky figure behind her making incomprehendable noises. She wanted to scream to cry but all feelings and thoughts have left her, except her fear. The figure leaned forward a white thin line that looked like a smile on the Thing’s face. It made a sound that sounded like someone drowning. Was it LAUGHING..?!?! She could not tell but the sound continued.

 San noticed that the Thing had stopped laughing and started pacing around the tree, smiling at her. She felt something grab her ankles and her arms, like rope but made of something else. THE TREE!!! It was wounding around her pulling her into itself, like it was trying to eat her. She was being pulled in, instinct kicking in she started flailing and kicking the tree as if that would make it let her go.

The Thing was laughing again at her attempts to escape her inevitable end. She screamed as loud as her lungs would allow her. The monster laid a hand on her cheek, she flinched. It was like putting an ice cube on her face.

It laughed again, San growled her hatred and sorrow. Losing composure she cried through her anger, salty tears rolling down her red hot face. The last thing she could think of before being completely consumed by the tree was, It got me again…and this time I won’t wake up.. She closed her eyes giving in and the world went black, the last thing she ever saw was the grinning face of the lanky figure.

by Alannah Garcia

Alannah Garcia is a 7th grader at SEEQS Public Charter School. She is passionate about the arts, drawing, music, and theatre. She also enjoys her time alone and her own space. This is her first published story, but it certainly won't be the last.