“Roy?”
“Yes, Jane?”
“Was that tree there yesterday?”
“Um, no. That’s strange.” The tree seemed to have magically appeared. Roy and Jane have been best friends for eight years, which is more than half their life. Both children were only twelve and spent nearly everyday together. School just got out so they had lots of time to go exploring in the field and woods behind their houses.
“Roy, this is weird. How does a fully grown tree grow over night? Trees don't have feet, Roy! They don't get up and walk around!” Jane was a little creeped out by this whole situation. She was right. Trees don’t have feet.
“Jane, you need to calm down please.”
“Roy, I have told you so many times not to tell me to calm down. It only makes things worse. I think we should go check it out. Just to make sure it’s not a prank or something.”
“No! Jane, don’t go near that tree!” Roy knew exactly what the tree was. It wasn’t a prank at all.
Jane scoffed, “Don’t be such a baby. Let's go.”
Roy was getting scared for Jane. He knew that if she went towards the tree that she probably wouldn't come back. If she did come back, she wouldn’t be the same. Just like he wasn’t the same.
“Jane. Please listen to me. I’m telling you not to go by the tree. I have a bad feeling about all this and I think we should go.”
Jane was very sceptical. Roy was hiding something and she wanted to know what it was. “Roy, tell me what’s going on and maybe I’ll believe you.”
“Jane, I can’t. I really really want to, I just can’t.”
Jane pushed Roy hard enough to fall. Once Roy tried to get back up, Jane pushed him down again. “Roy, you need to tell me! I’m not letting you get up until you tell me!”
Roy started to cry. The last time he told someone, he almost didn’t come back. There was no point anyway. Once he told her he’d be gone again. Through sobs, Roy managed, “Them,” and pointed upwards.
“Who’s them Roy?” Jane let Roy get back to his feet.
“You don’t understand, Jane. Remember that week I was gone from school? I wasn’t sick like my mom said. I was gone. I was in a place i’ve never been in before. There were creatures everywhere! They didn’t speak words, they were like gurgles but I knew what they were saying. It was the scariest week of my life!”
Jane had a confused look on her face, “Roy I don't get what you're saying. What creatures?” Jane felt the Earth shake below her feet. Everything shook hard. Jane latched onto Roy, “What’s happening?”
Roy shook his head and began to cry again. “Jane, the creatures told me if I ever told anyone what happened that they’d take me and wouldn't bring me back again. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you about it. The tree is what takes me. That’s why it was here, they were warning me.”
Jane hung on tighter than ever and cried with Roy. “I won’t let them take you. They can’t. If I hang on tight enough then they can’t take you.” The air was getting hot and hard to breathe.
“It doesn’t work that way, Jane. They’ll take you too, you have to let me go.”
“I won’t!” Jane said furiously, “They can't take you!” They were both crying, hanging on together.
“Jane, seriously, let go! I don’t want them to take you. It’s only a matter of time now.” Roy tried to loosen up Jane’s grip on his waist. Once he broke free, the tree was radiating heat like never before. It started to glow a deep purple and looked like it had a heartbeat, pulsing. Roy felt like he was being torn apart while Jane watched in horror.
“Roy! Tell me what to do!” Jane was screaming over the sound of the harsh wind.
“There’s nothing you can do. Let me go, but don’t forget about me.” At that moment, what looked like a hand, came out of the trunk of the tree and grabbed a hold of Roy by the waist. It dragged Roy toward the tree without effort. Roy didn’t even try to stop it anymore, he knew his fate. Jane screamed for Roy but it was no use. She tried running to the tree to stop it from taking her friend but it felt impossible to move her legs. Roy was sucked into the tree, the wind and shaking stopped.
“That’s it?” Jane said out loud. She was about to try to run again when she heard a loud popping sound. The tree broke free of the ground was was floating in front of her. With one last whip of the wind, the tree shot into the air. Jane watched as the tree, with her friend still inside, continued going straight up. The entire Earth stilled, Jane had nothing to do besides try to figure out how to get the tree to come back.