The Willow Girl

Had it been any other night, I would say that the scene in my dream was stunning. The moon shone brightly above, gracing the forest with its glorious, white light. The tall trees held themselves proudly, commanding attention from the dreaming intruder. The ground beneath my bare feet was sturdy, yet soft. And right before me, a willow tree stood. Unlike the others, it was not proud. Despite its trunk’s height and thick greens, it seemed humble and meek to me. It was also on fire.

Red and orange flames licked its trunk, making their way up to the healthy leaves. Black smoke brought tears to my eyes, and I struggled to focus on what was happening. From the direction of the willow, I heard a girl’s voice crying out. She spoke no words, only sounds that conveyed panic and despair. I searched in the general direction of her voice and met a pair of emerald eyes, wide with fear and alarm. With great, visible effort, the girl whose eyes I met mouthed one word to me: “Help.”

I woke up gasping for air. “Father!” I called.

It was Edmund, my brother, who appeared by my side. “He’s left. There’s a fire on the edge of the forest.”

“The willow. They have to save the willow!” The girl’s green eyes flashed themselves in my memory. “She needs help.” I quickly got up and searched under my bed for my sandals. I hurried to the door, ignoring my brother’s questions.

I found my father with the villagers, passing around buckets of water by the tree line. I called out to him, “Father!”

A flash of surprise, and then irritation crossed his eyes. “What are you doing here? This is no place for a child.”

“Ellie!” I heard my brother call from behind me.

Looking past me, our father addressed him. “Take her back home!”

Edmund started to drag me by my arm, but I struggled against him. I need to go to the willow. “Stop it, Ellie! We need to go back home.”

I shook my head. “You have to help me, Edmund. Please, let’s just go to the willow.” I could feel my tears running down my cheeks. I haven’t realized that I started crying.

My brother sighed. “Where is it? What do you need?”

I recalled the willow’s location from my dream. “We might need a few buckets.”

After leading my brother deeper into the forest, we finally reached the willow in my dream. It stood there, unassuming and unharmed. Away from the fire.

Edmund lowered the two buckets he carried to the ground and turned to me. “What are you playing at, Ellie? Do you know how angry our father would be if he went home and didn’t find us there? What did you want to do here?”

There was no sign of the girl who asked for my help, and I burst into tears. “I promise, Edmund, I don’t want us to get into trouble. But I had a dream and…”

He reached out and gently touched my shoulder. “Let’s head home, now, Ellie. I’m pretty sure father is still with the others.”

Nodding silently, I let him lead me back home.

She appeared in my dreams every night since then. Sometimes she would dance around the willow, while the other trees seemed to watch over her. If not, she’d be singing words to me that I cannot understand. Her sweet voice seemed to caress my skin softly, as though it had magic of its own. But my favorite nights are when she’d simply stand before me. Simple, graceful even when unmoving, and ethereally beautiful. Her emerald eyes seemed to pierce me even in my sleep, and after staring for too long, she would close her eyes and her long lashes would brush the top of her high cheekbones. She’d give me a shy smile, showing off her pearly, white teeth. My heart fluttered every time she did that.

In one dream, I found the courage to talk to her. “Are you… real?” I asked with hesitation.

She smiled shyly again, and nodded.

My heart pounded. All those months since the fire, I thought that my dreams were nothing more than a product of an obsessive imagination. But she’s real. But then again, this is just another dream.

She seemed to notice my doubt and tilted her head to one side, as though someone was whispering to her. Her fiery red hair caught the light of the full moon, and as always, she was a magnificent sight.

“Come tomorrow,” she said.

“T-to… to your willow?”

She nodded. “To me.”

The dream faded after that.

“Where are you off to?” Edmund asked me in the morning.

“Just the forest. I might be in there for a while.”

“Well, make sure you’re back before father returns.”

I rushed out the door, barely giving him a nod for goodbye. My feet seemed to know where I was going even though I’ve only physically been to the willow tree once. I didn’t know what I was expecting to find. I wanted her to be there, but the thought of really seeing her scared me.

I stopped in my tracks meters away from the willow tree when I saw her. Her beauty was even more devastating in person. I felt unworthy to even gaze upon her. Her red hair, in contrast to the surrounding greenery, was striking even from far away. She wore a dress of some sheer, green material that exposed her arms and reached her toes. Butterflies exploded in my stomach, and I forced myself to walk forward. It would be disrespectful of me to make her wait. After taking those agonizing steps, I finally stood in front of her. Hesitantly, I reached out to touch the side of her face.

Her skin was smooth and it warmed where the back of my hand touched it. A scarlet hue spread through her cheeks, and she smiled at me.

“You’re here,” she said breathlessly.

“You’re here,” I repeated disbelievingly. It was one thing for such beauty to exist. But for her to be in front of me and within reach, my heart could not contain it. I want to kneel in reverence and kiss the ground by her feet.

“Because of you.” The sudden intensity in her eyes surprised me. “You heard my call.” She gestured to the willow tree’s trunk behind her. There were charred spots. “The fire reached my tree, but you left me some water… you and your brother.”

“Edmund.”

She nodded, then looked confused. “I didn’t call for him.”

It was my turn to blush. “I couldn’t carry the water.”

She rewarded me with a smile. “I shall thank him tonight, then.”

“In his dreams?”

“Yes.”

“Will you visit mine as well?”

“Every night, if you would like.”

I stayed with her until late afternoon. We sat at the bottom of her tree, just talking and staring at each other when we paused. She told me how she spent her days basking in the sun or playing in the rain. Animals frequently went to her to be cuddled or to simply enjoy her company. Sometimes, under the moon’s light, she would dance around and her other friends would appear.

“But they won’t let themselves be known to you,” she said when she noticed that the mention of her friends caught my interest.

“Why not?”

“Because you’re human.”

“And so?”

“They don’t trust humans.”

“But you do?”

“I trust you. You saved my tree. I’d trust you with my life.”

That made me happy. I couldn’t care less if her friends didn’t like me. I’m here for her.

I went back to her tree every day. My every waking thought was her, and during the times I was away, I was always looking forward to the next time I would see her. Edmund noticed the change in me one day.

“You’ve been smiling an awful lot lately.”

I frowned, and somehow it didn’t feel natural. “I’m just happy, that’s all.”

“Been having good dreams?”

I squinted my eyes at him, suspicious about his line of questioning. “Yes. How about you?”

He sighed. “Ah, one night I dreamt of this girl. You remember that tree in the forest during the fire?”

He’s talking about the willow girl. “Yes, I brought you there.”

“Well, I saw a girl there, in my dream. And she was thanking me.”

“What a weird dream.”

“Weird, indeed. She had pointed ears, see. But she was beautiful. If she was real, I’d take her as my wife.”

Suddenly, I didn’t like Edmund’s tone. How dare he refer to her as someone he could just take. It angered me, but I’m relieved that to him, she is nothing but a dream.

I was anxious to get back to her after that, and she welcomed me in her arms. It amazes me how we’ve come from shy and reluctant touches to intimate sharing of warmth. Lately, we’ve been exploring the forest. I’ve always felt like we were being watched wherever we went. She took me to a small spring the other week, and we swam naked, stripped of inhibitions. She said she’d take me to her favorite meadow today, so we could make crowns from the flowers that grew there.

The meadow was wonderful. It was a circular field full of grass and daisies of different colors and surrounded by trees. The sun shone bright above it, illuminating the greens, and the yellows, and the whites. It was beautiful in itself, but it was her presence that made the scenery much more radiant.

Her head was laid on my lap, and she was making a crown of yellow and white flowers. I played with her fiery hair, trying to find the courage to ask her the question that’s been plaguing my mind.

“What is it?” she asked suddenly.

My hand froze. “What’s what?”

“Your forehead is scrunched.”

Despite my anxiousness, I gave her a smile. “What do you think about exploring my world?”

She stopped playing with the flowers, and sat up to look at me levelly. “I couldn’t.”

I lowered my eyes. “Because you don’t trust the other humans?”

She placed two fingers below my chin, and lifted my head, so she could see my eyes again. “Well, that. But also, I cannot leave the forest. This is my home. And the willow, it’s my life force.”

“What happens if you do leave?”

“I’m not sure. Being so far away from my willow, it would drain me of life. I’d fade.”

“Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say. There are days when I thought of spending the rest of my life with her. I often imagined buying a small house, where I can wake up beside her and cook for her. Where she would sing me to sleep with her magical voice while holding me in her arms.

“Smile for me, Elizabeth.” She put the finished daisy crown delicately on top of my head. “I will always be here.”

Another thought crossed my mind. “Forever?”

“Forever.”

Before I headed back home, she gave me instructions to return the next night. “It’s the first full moon tomorrow night.” Her eyes shone excitedly. “Some of my friends have warmed up to you, and they’re going to dance with me.”

I was nervous all of a sudden. “But what should I wear?”

She laughed, as though it was a silly question, but my stomach was in knots. “Your nightgown will do.” With a squeeze of my hand, she let me head back home.

Edmund was waiting for me with a teasing smile. “You took longer than usual, today. Your secret lover took too long?”

I have always been fond of my brother, but lately his teasing has been irritating me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He didn’t seem to mind how I avoided his question. “I’ll figure it out soon.”

I stopped moving.

“It’s just not fair, you know,” he suddenly sounded like a child. “How come you have a lover and I don’t?”

I snorted and made my way to my room.

I sneaked out the next night and hurriedly made my way to the already familiar path of her willow tree. I spent the whole day thinking about what she said about being around forever, and I was pleased that I finally came up with a solution.

When I reached her willow, I felt utterly underdressed. She was standing, as she usually is when she greets me, under her tree. But tonight, she wore a long, white gown that seemed to flow down. Her bright hair was done up with leaves and white daisies. And she smiled at me. I was enchanted by how she looked. It was as if the thousands of times that my eyes landed on her beauty was not enough. Her radiance was so overwhelming that she seemed to shine under the moonlight.

“Elizabeth,” she called in a breathy voice.

I went to her side, and I heard my name echoed by little voices that seemed to come from everywhere. I looked up, and saw little winged bodies that emitted their own lights. Faeries, I thought.

“My friends,” she whispered to me.

I was giddy with excitement. I heard music coming from an unknown source, but before I could put too much thought into it, she pulled me towards her and we started to dance together. I twirled her and she giggled as though nothing in the world worried her. I held her hand the whole night, and nothing in the world worried me as well. I heard tinkling laughs from her little friends as well, who were flying around us with dances of their own. There was no other word about the night but magical, and even the trees that always watched us seemed to accept me as well. After hours of merriness, we sat down again under her willow tree. I held her in my arms, while her friends continued to dance under the moonlight.

With my heart filled with emotion, I finally told her, “I want you to marry me.”

Slowly, she turned to look at me. “I cannot leave-”

“You don’t have to,” I said in a rush. “You said you’ll be here forever. But I won’t be. Someday, I’m going to die, and you’ll live on with your tree and the rest of the forest.”

“That’s just the way it has to be,” she said, and I heard regret in her voice.

“I want you to marry me,” I repeated. “I don’t care if I turn into a grey shriveled lady while you still look like you do now. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Here. In the forest.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can live here. When I’m old enough, I can leave Edmund and my father. I’ll build a little house, just beside your tree. I’ll become a part of your forever.”

Tears shone in her emerald eyes, and before I could ask her what was wrong, she leaned forward… and our lips touched. Everything in the world faded. I could hear no music, see no faeries, nor feel no ground. All there was was her and the softness of her lips and the roaring of my heart. My head exploded with lights and my body anchored itself to her. I was happier than the happiest person to ever exist. And it was all because of her.

All too soon, she leaned back again. “Okay,” she whispered. “I will marry you.”

There was nothing else to say after that. With my heart content and secured, I closed my eyes.

I woke up to my father yelling. “Edmund! Where the devil did you go?!”

The events from last night were still fresh in my memory, but I forced it out of my mind to deal with father and whatever he was angry about. The sooner that things are settled, the sooner that I can go to the forest and see her again.

“What’s wrong?”

“Have you seen your brother?”

“Not since last night. Father, what’s wrong?”

“What idiocy. That boy even took my ax!” He handed me a handwritten note. I recognized Edmund’s penmanship:

I found the girl of my dreams. I’ll bring her home for you to meet.

Then I will take her as my wife.

My heart dropped to my stomach. Of course he’d try to find her. Of course he’d be captivated by her the way I was. My initial shock lasted for just a few seconds after reading his note, and I was sprinting out the door without a word to my father. I stumbled multiple times in the forest. I kept tripping on roots and twigs. Somehow, something is making it hard for me to see clearly. Maybe it’s the tears.

I reached her willow just in time to see Edmund swing our father’s ax against the tree’s already felled trunk.

“NO!” I screamed, brought down to my knees at witnessing the final blow that brought down the willow. Around me, I heard the crying of the trees. I glimpsed the friends I just met the night before, their lights concealed by the sun but detectable by my eyes.

“Elizabeth,” her voice whispered. I looked around but I couldn’t find her. The only other person around was my panting brother with his crazed eyes.

“Elizabeth,” she said again.

I can’t find you, I screamed in my mind, unable to speak. I was being swallowed by grief and despair. My whole being was pained with loss for the willow girl that I could no longer see. The willow girl that I will never be able to see nor touch again. The fire that consumed her tree in my first dream was consuming my insides.

Where are you? I mentally screamed again. My body started to shake, and dark spots formed in my eyes. I did my best to blink them away. Something is pounding in my head, and I’m afraid I would faint before I find her. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…

“Ellie…”

I understand that this post is quite long. This is the first short story that I’ve published online, and I plan to rewrite it soon. I was inspired by the song “The Willow Maid” by Erutan on YouTube.