The first thing he noticed was her legs. They were long and lean and gorgeously tanned, topped by very short, chocolate brown shorts covering a cute butt. His eyes continued upward towards a trim waist and then stopped short. The rest of her was leaning forward hugging a tree. And here he thought it was just an expression.
Tim had been exploring the forests and national parks of Oregon since he was a child, first with his dad and then later on his own. He had met many naturalists and environmentalists throughout the years, some obsessively passionate about their cause. But this was a first.
On closer examination she was actually snuggling the tree, the way a woman would snuggle a man's chest, rubbing her face lightly against the bark and whispering to it. Intrigued, he stepped off the path to get a better look, his camera bumping gently against his thigh. He staggered with a grunt as his foot tripped over a hidden root.
She turned around slowly and he caught his breath. Lord, she was beautiful, like a fairy tale princess. She seemed unsurprised and unconcerned by his presence. She leaned her back against the tree and gazed at him calmly. Her eyes were unusually dark, almost black. Her hair was white-blond and as fine and soft as a spring shower. It was so long he couldn't tell what kind of top she was wearing or even if she was wearing one. He could only gape at her, struck dumb by the vision in front of him.
She moved towards him languidly, with an odd gliding walk as if she was moving through water. He heard a peculiar noise, like leaves rustling in the wind although the air around them was completely still. Distracted momentarily by the sound, he looked around quickly for the source. Then all at once she was in front of him and he forgot everything else.
If possible, her eyes were even darker up close, twin black holes he could easily have gotten lost in. She reached out a finger and touched his jaw. "You're pretty", she whispered. "Do you have a name?"
"T-Tim", he stammered. "T-Thanks, you're pretty, too." His body stirred uneasily at her closeness. Her voice was soft, warm and husky, and made him think of summer nights lying under the stars on a bed of velvety moss. He had a sudden vision of her sharing that bed, her long legs wrapped around him and moaning his name into his ear. Embarrassed, he stepped back quickly to put some distance between them.
She followed him, moving in even closer than before. She reached out her hand to stroke his cheek. Her fingers were abnormally long and thin, tipped with narrow nails that had been filed to a fine point. For a moment Tim felt a surge of panic at the thought of what kind of damage those nails could do to his flesh. He flinched back reflexively and her eyes narrowed in displeasure. It was a look that turned his panic to fear as she rested those nails lightly against his cheekbone. To distract her, he blurted out the first thing he could think of. "Why were you hugging that tree?" then cursed himself for his stupidity.
Thankfully, she smiled slightly. "She is hurting. I was offering comfort. Her spirit has no mate." She ran a single finger down his face from the corner of his eye to the corner of his mouth. Tim felt no pain, but was sure she had left a mark. She leaned in close to him and inhaled deeply. "You smell pretty, too. Warm and rich like earth." Slowly, she walked around him, trailing her hand across his chest, his arms and across his shoulders. Again he heard a rustling sound, like kids scuffing through piles of dried leaves in autumn. "Strong hands. Good back. Nice height. Sturdy", she said admiringly.
"Uh, thanks." Tim felt safer when he could keep her talking. "So what's your name?"
She paused in her perusal of him. Tim thought he now knew what a used car felt like. "Daphne."
"That's kind of an old-fashioned name."
"Is it?"
Tim was at a loss how to respond to that. Daphne moved smoothly away from him, leaning her back once again against her tree, her palms pressed flat on the bark beside her hips. She seemed relaxed, yet at the same time alert, almost protective. She studied him carefully and Tim felt himself grow hard. He had never been afraid of a woman before. He liked it. He found it strangely exciting. He nervously looked back at her. Originally he had thought she was about his own age, but there was something about her eyes that seemed timeless. And there was a confidence and self-assurance in her that the other girls he knew didn't have. He decided that Daphne was probably much older than she looked.
"Why are you here, Tim?"
Tim relaxed. The distance she had put between them was helping to restore his equilibrium and this was a question he could answer easily. He lifted his camera. "I'm a nature photographer. Or at least I want to be. I'm taking photography in college. I'm supposed to do a photographic essay on one of my favorite places." He opened his arms wide. "Mt. Scott is one of my favorite places. I can't tell you how many times I've walked the nature trails around here."
She was keenly interested. "Nature. You like nature?"
Tim laughed. "Oh, I love it! When I graduate, I plan to camp out and photograph endangered species. Not enough people appreciate nature. There's nothing like being outdoors, surrounded by birds and animals and trees."
"Yes, trees. So love trees?"
Tim looked at her quizzically. "Sure."
"And you know all about spirit trees."
Tim's grin faltered, feeling as if he had been put on the spot. "Um, no." Her eyes narrowed again in disapproval and Tim's heartbeat kicked up. "Trees have spirits?"
"Some do, yes. They help hold Mother Earth together."
Now she was talking crazy, he thought. He cocked his head in disbelief. "Trees hold the world together?"
"Some do. Not all. Would you like me to tell you about spirit trees?"
"Sure."
Her dark eyes seemed to glow with an inner flame. "Mother Earth is far more fragile and complicated than humans can possibly imagine." The way Daphne said "humans" sent a chill coursing down between his shoulders blades. "To hold her together the Great Creator gave Mother Earth the gift of spirit trees and Old Ones and sacred places."
"What if someone cuts down a spirit tree?"
"No one ever cuts down a spirit tree", she whispered. "Terrible things would happen if they did."
Tim shuddered inwardly at the look of utter conviction Daphne had on her face. She really believed what she was saying. She almost had him believing it, too. "What do you mean by sacred places?"
"These are the true anchors the Creator placed on our earth, sites of such spiritual and physical power that even if the beings created to protect her fail, Mother Earth will still survive, tattered but intact. Some are known, such as Stonehenge, Easter Island, Malta, many more are unknown."
"And the Old Ones?"
"They are beings of great power created to give order and balance to this world. You know them by such names as Thor, Artemis, Osiris, Kali."
"Wait, you're trying to tell me the ancient gods were real?"
Daphne shook her head impatiently. "The only true god is the Creator. Early man called them gods because they were in awe of their power. They were simply beings created to hold the world together. Just like spirit trees, their life force is tied to this earth. A loss of either one causes a severe imbalance."
"What happens then?"
Daphne gazed at him with such intensity he had the sudden urge to run. "Chaos. Turmoil. Death. Two of the beings you call gods once fought to the death and the dinosaurs became extinct. A spirit tree once died of despair and Pompeii was buried in fire and ash." She rolled her head and smiled at him lazily. "I can give you other examples if you like."
"No, I get it. Bad things happen."
"Very bad things." Daphne laid her cheek against the bark and closed her eyes. If Tim didn't know better, he'd think she was listening to it. "Yes, we should do all we can to keep a spirit tree alive." She looked at him again and smiled enticingly. "Don't you think?"
"Yeah, wouldn't want Crater Lake to suddenly blow its top."
Daphne's eyes narrowed to slits. "Are you mocking me, Tim?"
Tim blanched white at the cold deadliness of her tone. "No! I only meant, well, you mentioned Pompeii, and Crater Lake used to be a volcano, and since it's close by, I just -" Tim took a deep breath to curb his babbling. "Honest, I meant no disrespect." Tim was pretty sure he had worn out his welcome. Time to find his way back to the trail and get out of here. "Well, I better be going. Nice to have met you, Daphne."
"You desire me, don't you, Tim?"
Tim froze in mid-step, his mouth open in shock. Daphne smiled at him seductively. He recognized the look. He seen it once or twice before. But this was the first time one had made his body vibrate like a strummed guitar string. "Um, uh."
"I see it in your eyes. I felt it in your flesh. I hear it in your breath. You desire this body, don't you?" She laughed, a tinkling sound, sharp and piercing. "Come take it."
Tim's body clenched at what she was offering. Every instinct inside of him told him to go, get the hell out of Dodge. But she was so damn beautiful. He wanted to see what kind of breasts she was hiding under that hair. Her eyes smoldered hypnotically. The look in them terrified him and enflamed him at the same time. Desire mixed with fear was a heady potion he was too young to resist. He had to taste it. He covered the short distance between them and reached for her face.
In a move so quick he never saw it coming, Daphne exchanged places with him and had Tim's wrists pinned against the tree. She was stronger than she looked and he found he couldn't move. Tim gasped from surprise and a vicious want that seared him. Daphne flattened her breasts against his chest and buried her face in throat. Her silky hair tickled his nose and he thought he was in heaven.
"You love nature, don't you, Tim?"
Tim looked at her, his eyes glazed with lust and confusion. "What?"
"We should do all we can to keep a spirit tree alive, shouldn't we?"
With the fire burning his blood, his flesh, his nerves, he would have agreed to anything. "Sure, sure."
"This spirit tree is dying, Tim, dying of loneliness and despair. Like the one in Pompeii. It has no mate. It has lived a long time and it is so alone."
Tim shook his head. Nothing she said made sense. He tried freeing his wrists but he couldn't budge her. He panted with unfulfilled need. "What does that have to do with me?"
She nuzzled his neck and whispered in his ear. "Everything. It has everything to do with you."
Tim's arms jerked backwards and wrapped around the trunk of the tree. He screamed in pain as joints bent in directions they weren't designed for. Daphne stepped away from the tree and studied him with mild interest. "Not all spirit trees need mates, you know. Many do not want one. But this tree was ready to wither and die than spend another year on this earth alone. Thankfully, you happened along, Tim. Someone who loves trees. Who knows what horrible disaster would have befallen Mother Earth if not for you."
Tim's screams of pain turned into a scream of terror as his legs merged slowly with the trunk holding him prisoner. The wood behind his back softened as if opening to embrace him. His breath choked off as his lungs filled with sawdust. His body was sinking, sinking backwards as the tree gradually absorbed him. His last sight before he disappeared was of two black eyes smiling in satisfaction.
Only a camera remained on the ground where the boy had once stood. Daphne approached the tree and stroked it lovingly. "Now, isn't that better?" With a last affectionate pat, Daphne walked to a clearing not far away. She sunk her roots deep into the soil, turned her face to the sky and reached out her limbs to embrace the sun.

End