Wednesday 7 November 2018

THE LAST WOOD NYMPH - 100 word story

A beautifully carved tree stump for this week's Friday Fictioneer's photo prompt helped me to come up with a whimsical story.


PHOTO PROMPT © J.S. Brand

THE LAST WOOD NYMPH


She was the last Wood Nymph in the valley.
Her fellow nymphs had disappeared when their trees became sick.
Then Men came to fell her tree. She watched in helpless horror.
The owner, Willie, supervised. He made them cut it high, which saved her.
After The Cutting Men left, the nymph spoke. 'Why?'
'I'm sorry,' said Willie. 'I had to do it. Your tree was dying and you would have died too.'
'I might as well be dead,' she said, looking at the tall stump with terrible sadness.
'I'll make it beautiful for you again,' said Willie. 'I promise.'




I hope you enjoyed this story and I look forward to your comments. 


If you wish to read more Friday Fictioneers stories, you can find them listed HERE




If you'd like to join in the challenge, you'll find all the information posted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields 
- her blog is listed on 'My Blog List' on the right hand side of this page.


On a final note - I always try to visit the blogs of everyone who comments on mine. If I haven't commented on yours it's either because I haven't been able to find your blog when I've clicked on your name or because you have a wordpress account that requires me to sign in first. 



57 comments:

  1. Soft, gentle story. Lovely. And as Maggie Thatcher once said, "we all need a Willie." :) Jilly Funnell, Sugar on the Bee.

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    1. Ha ha - now she was far from my mind when I named him Willie! :)

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  2. Will beautiful be enough to restore her to life?

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    1. Thank you! Appreciate your succinct comment. )

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  4. Sweet story, esecially if Willie knows what he is doing.

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    1. Well he can talk to nymphs, so I have faith in him. :)

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  5. Dear Susan,

    Such a lovely story, ending on such a hopeful note.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    1. Thank you, Rochelle. After my horror story last week, I wanted to write something different.

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  6. How lovely. There are several carved tree trunks such as this in my area and I think it's a great way to let a dead tree live.

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    1. Yes, definitely a nice way to keep a tree 'alive'.

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  7. Good old Willie, doing what he can. Nicely done Susan.

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  8. you really grabbed the heart of the lesson (and how painful it can be) when sometimes hard changes just happen in life and we need to try and make beauty from what we can -

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  9. That's lovely! It resonates with me - that scars can become beautiful.

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    1. Thank you, Helen. It's important to see the beauty in the injured.

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  10. I wonder if he can grow a new tree for her... don't know how wood nymphs live.

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    1. The way I see it - his efforts to beautify the damaged tree will be sufficient for her. :)

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  11. well, i'm confident willie will rise to the occasion. :)

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  12. Aw, what a sweet story. Love a good fairy tale :)

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    1. Thanks, Linda - and who knows where it will lead?

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  13. Aw, I like that Willie knew about her and he's going to help her :-)

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    1. Yes, he's probably one of the few - but maybe it only takes belief? :)

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  14. Aw, how sweet. We all need a helping hand from time to time. Nicely done.

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    1. Thanks for the feedback, Jo. Glad you liked the story.

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  15. As tree becomes sick, so will the nymph. Their destinies are intertwined, because tree is the home of the nymph.

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    1. That's why Willie didn't cut it to the ground.
      p.s. it's fiction, Abhijit, don't take it too seriously. :)

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  16. I like whimsical, Susan, and this is sweet.

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    1. Sweet, whimsical and purely fictional. Thanks for commenting, Liz. :)

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  17. A lovely chivalrous tale. Nicely written! =)

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    1. Thanks, Brenda - appreciate your feedback. :)

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  18. Aww, what a lovely ending to a sad tale.

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  19. Poor little Nymph, maybe the tree will sprout again...

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    1. So long as it allows her to live, I'll be satisfied with the carvings. Thanks for commenting. :)

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  20. Nice to see that someone's willing to take something that's ruined and make it beautiful and purposeful again.

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    1. Yes, something we can all learn from. Thanks for commenting. :)

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  21. That was a lovely story indeed, Susan!!

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    1. Thanks for the feedback, Dale - appreciate it. :)

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  22. What a sweet little tale, and one that could be a proper fairytale. Delightful.

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  23. Well, it wasn't 'the cutting men' who killed it. The tree was dying which was why they needed to cut it. The only reason Willie stopped it from being cut to the ground was to save the wood nymph. But anyway, this is just a fairy story after all. :)

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  24. A sweet fairy tale. But what if her taste in art differs from Willie?

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    1. Thank you, Dawn - appreciate your feedback. :)

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  26. Lovely tale, sometimes it's necessary to be cruel to be kind

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    1. Yes, lesson to be learned here. Thank you for commenting, Michael. :)

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Many thanks for commenting. I appreciate your feedback.