Page 89 of Into the Heartless Wood
the monster
forever.
I head east, toward the wild reaches of the forest,
the only place my brothers could be hiding.
My back aches
where my mother stripped away my bark.
But it is Owen’s words that torment me.
I will never forgive you for what you did to my mother. If I ever see you again, I will kill you.
You are only a monster because you choose to be.
Choose.
The trees shelter me
from the rain
and I am left
in a roaring green world,
leaves crackly and dry beneath my feet.
I kneel on the forest floor,
plunge my hands into the earth,
reach out to the heart of the wood,
to my brothers.
Neither answers.
The wood turns its back on me,
rejecting me.
I feel it, waking at my mother’s call.
It is strong.
Angry.
Ready to do her will.
I go on.
The forest hisses and mutters.
Branches reach, roots writhe.
I sing to the wood and
