Sap Tree

A young girl, for the purposes of this story we will call Jess, lives between a flooded power plant, a large frozen lake, and a dark forest supposedly home to an extremely tall tree. She’s muscular, with a confident personality and long blonde hair. The rest of her small community has been attempting to cross the frozen lake, filter clean water, and turn the abandoned, polluted power plant into a city hall for group discussions to take place. There are an abundance of cats, as well as dangerous mutant cats that have been irradiated from the plant. These mutant cats kill most people that get close to them, leaving the community unsure as to how to protect themselves during an encounter. Rather than assisting in completing these tasks with her community, Jess has been working toward a different objective. She’s spending time near the lake, focused on opening a treasure chest she found while diving in the frigid water. Earlier this week she was able to open the chest. It was mostly empty, containing only a letter with an address in a town she did not know, and a map that had a path leading from the lake to the undiscovered town. This path goes through the dark forest, which no one has entered in fear of the potential mutant cats that linger around tall trees. However, Jess is headstrong and unafraid, deciding to follow the path at her own risk.

She packs a small satchel containing unfiltered water, a compass, knife, and berries. She wears a lucky necklace that her grandfather gave her as a child with a dark green stone hanging from it. Jess walks to the forest, which is only a few miles from her house. On her way there, she passes no one, wondering if it would go unnoticed if she were to vanish. As Jess steps into the forest, she takes out the map and compass, walking northwest toward the distant town. Although it’s early in the day, the density of the trees creates a darkness around her, making it difficult to see ahead and trace her steps. Jess passes a group of common white cats that approach her gently. She pets one of them, knowing they are ubiquitous throughout the community, but the cat hisses and claws her forearm. Jess pulls back and shoos the cats away, grabbing her arm. The cats mysteriously fade into the trees like they were a type of hologram. Jess begins worrying that she made a mistake going into the forest alone, thinking that perhaps the ominous nature of the treasure chest being empty was a bad omen. She sits down, putting her hands in the wet soil, and stares into the bright sky looming over the shaded forest. She’s doubting herself, considering turning back. She looks at the green stone on her necklace, and as if she were catching herself in the act of something embarrassing, Jess abruptly stands up and carries forward.

After looking at her compass, Jess turns more to the north. An uncovered field lies in front of her and she runs to it. No trees cover this field and Jess feels more comfortable in the open sun. In the distance a thin and shaggy man is standing over a fire. He has an old RV which appears broken down. When Jess runs into the field, he sees her in the periphery of his vision, craning his neck around to glance at her. He gets startled and rushes into the RV. Hesitantly, Jess inches her way over to where the man is. She puts her hands over the fire and waits for a while. Figuring that there’s no rush to her finding the town on the map, Jess decides it’s important to learn who this man is. The fire has gone down a bit, so she heads back into the forest for more wood. She keeps the fire going and kneels over it. The man finally opens his door, asking what she is doing. Jess introduces herself, telling the man about her quest while expressing she means no harm. He’s skeptical, questioning her about her intentions. Jess shows him the map and points in the general direction of where she is going. The trees look insanely tall in that area. The man becomes anxious, warning Jess that mutant cats will be unavoidable in the places she is going because they live in and surround the biggest trees in the forest. Not only this but the town she is searching for has a dark history. Many years ago, the residents were forced to evacuate because of an explosion at the local oil refinery.

They start talking about their pasts and how they ended up where they are now. The man says his name is Trey and he’s been living away from civilization for as long as he could remember. This is because of his distaste for the way humans have been forced to rely on energy industries to support every aspect of their lives while their cities and communities are polluted by these companies. Jess relates, explaining that her town was polluted by an industrial power plant that didn’t manage its waste correctly, making it a hazardous zone and killing many. Jess also shares that her now shrunken community is working to clean up, rebuild, and regain electricity following a conflict with another group, yet she is more interested in looking for new places to live. Trey says he’s hungry, and goes into the RV to get food. He brings out a rusty pot and an old can of beans. He cooks on top of the fire while Jess wanders closeby. It’s dusk, and the edges of the sky cast grayish-purple tones onto her face. She reflects back to years earlier, feeling nostalgic and isolated in the vast field. She remembers the first time she went swimming in the lake as a teenager, before it was frozen and dangerous to put your feet into. The water was smooth and lukewarm, at night it would glow with algae. She would go skinny dipping with her friends and smoke weed, leaving the water covered in shining light all over their bodies. Jess remembers where she is, glad to have stopped for the night. It’s not often that she gets to have a real connection with another person, and she thinks maybe this will be the last time for a while. She returns to Trey and they eat the beans together. Jess thanks Trey and he offers to sleep outside so she can spend the night in the RV, which is safer. Jess assures him she will be fine sleeping outside by the fire and he can sleep inside. She asks him if he has a flashlight in case the fire goes down and she can’t see. Trey hands her his flashlight.

In the middle of the night Jess is unable to sleep, anxious to keep looking for the town. The mystery surrounding the treasure and the idea of fulfillment it can bring Jess in a time of aimlessness and desperation excites her. She sits up and looks into the window of the RV where Trey is fast asleep, stretched out on his bed and snoring. She leaves, pacing in the direction of the upcoming forest. It’s windy and chilly, Jess bundles her arms around each other. She points the flashlight forward and creeps into the forest, scanning panoramically around her. There are loud sounds of rustling leaves and shaking branches, it’s troublesome for her to focus on the path. The trees are so dense, large, and similar looking, almost seeming like a room full of mirrors at a haunted house. However, Jess continues walking in the right direction, seeing on the map that she is close to where the enormous, special tree potentially stands. Understanding the threat of the mutant cats, she pulls out her knife and cautiously moves ahead. She approaches the tree, it’s magnificent and otherworldly. Stocky branches hang over each other and the widest trunk you could imagine is sprawled around in different sections. The tree has a strong aroma, a mix between maple and gasoline. It’s overwhelming and confuses Jess, who puts her hand on the tree. The smell is much stronger close up, it’s something she’s never experienced before. Instinctually, without remembering the significance and lore surrounding this tree, she carves into it with her knife. A sap-like fluid starts to drip out of the wood, it’s thick and heavy. Jess tastes the fluid, spitting it out immediately and realizing it’s some sort of energy source. It appears like oil and tastes poisonous. Jess recalls that her community was looking for a way to access electricity again, thinking that she may have found a solution that she could share if she were to return home.

Abruptly, a large shadow radiates onto the tree. Jess turns around. An abnormally large, rugged cat with sharp claws and wolf-like hair glares at her from ten feet away. The cat stands completely still. Jess does the same. She grips her knife tightly, and slyly opens her bag. She throws the berries in front of the mutant cat and it gets frightened for a brief instance. Jess darts away from the cat and it sprints after her. The cat’s fast speed and ability to see in the dark make it nearly impossible for Jess to escape safely. She notices a patch of bushes and jumps into them, covering her mouth. She sees the cat as it passes by, holding her breath. The cat lingers, and Jess struggles to stay silent. Eventually, the cat moves away and Jess is able to exhale. She reaches in her bag for the compass, but it’s not there. Without this, she won’t be able to continue on her journey. Jess lays on her stomach and crawls back over to the tree, where a group of mutant cats are drinking the fluid spewing out of it. She can see a reflection of light from the moon bouncing off of the compass, which sits between the cats and tree. Jess knows this may be the end of her journey. She’s tired, afraid, and in danger. She tries one more distraction, taking off her special necklace and holding it close to her heart. She kisses the stone, and then throws it where the cats are standing. They run over to it, trying to discern what it is. During this moment, Jess makes a run for her compass and grabs it, but as she passes the tree, one of the cats is altered, pouncing onto her. The cat throws her into the tree and ends up killing her with its claws. Jess is face down in the soil, under the tree and covered in severe wounds. The fluid drips down onto her body. She was unable to make it to the town, but discovered an unknown secret about the large tree’s ability to provide power to her community. Unfortunately, they will have to discover this on their own, as she will never return.