Willow Tree

keep an open mind
there is no truth behind this. no right answers. why does he stay inside? why is he go ing mad? what is the willow? what is going on outside? why does he never go outside? I wrote this in s a su ch a way that every tie you read it you see a different story in your mind. each reader will create their own world an d a the willow will be their own personal demon. I do hope you have fun with this simple short story. so tell me... what demons haunt your dreams as you read "the willow tree"

The Willow Tree
June 17, 2027 it rained again today. It used to always rain on my birthday but these days it seems to never stop raining. I suppose I should be grateful. The sound of the drops hitting my front porch remind me of footsteps and the sound brings me some small measure of comfort it makes me feel less alone. June 20, 2027 i woke up from a long nap today to find the rain had stopped. or at least the noise of it had. every now and then I hear trickle of water but outside my window all I see is the haze and fog. I can;t really tell if it has stopped or if it's only slowed. As I stared out into the fog I knew I must have been going mad, I could swear there was something moving out there. but I knew that couldn't be true. no one had been out this far for longer then I could remember. the fog was just playing tricks on me. it was probably the old willow tree a few houses down. June 21, 2027 there is no rain today. not even a trickle. but yesterdays fog seems thicker somehow. it is the summer so it must be the heat. the sun is beating down hard out there and all the moisture from the weeks of rain. that must be it. oh and the figure is there again. I can't help but feel like it is watching me as I look out at it. I really need to find something to do around here before my madness gets out of control. I know it's just a tree. but it seems so big for a willow... and all the bushes around my house have been dead shriveled for days. how is it still standing June 22, 2027 i awoke in the middle of the night, or at least I think it was, to what sounded like and explosion. I got up and rushed to my window... it was horrible. the house just two doors down from mine was in flames. shrapnel and debris from it's burning carcass had been cast all across the neighborhood. was it a gas leak? a meteor? something must have set it off. was someone left alone inside there just like me. how could anyone blow up a house they were still inside. that would be madness. but i'm one to talk. the old willow looks like it is in front of my neighbors house now. I really need to get some sleep. it took me a few hours but I finally got to sleep again. the house is still burning. I can still hear the wood cracking under the heat of the fire. it almost sound like someone snapping twigs to toss on a bonfire. its not helping the mood though. the wind raking across the burning building sounds like howls from some feral beast. if there was anyone around to watch it I could almost turn these wild musings of mine into a script for some b movie. June 27, 2027 it didn't wake me... I don't know how... when I finally got up and looked out the window... my neighbors house... it's gone... just fallen to the ground like a house of cards... I shouldn't worry though... not long left... the willow is in my yard.