Page 8 of Oh Christmas Tree
Chloe is staring at me with wide eyes and pushes herself onto a seated position. “Of course not, you don’t look like a Christmas tree, more like a Cedar.”
My chest puffs with pride; Cedar trees are descendants from the Sacred Cedar Forest. “That’s better. Cedar Trees are great trees! They symbolize strength and greatness.”
She shakes her head. “I can’t believe I’m debating the superiority of a Cedar tree with a … Tree,” she mutters.
I reach out to her, and the energy in the air feels electrifying. The moment my vines brush her arms, she shudders and closes her eyes, then brusquely snaps them open. “NO! No, don’t use your magic on me, enchanting me with your sex-tree-magic.”
“Sex-tree-magic?” I feel confused. “I don’t have magic…”
She huffs. “Then how do you explain… This?” she waves her hand across my front.
I shrug. “Yes, there’s magic involved in my two-legged form—which mostly comes from the Yule, just to be clear. But I don’t use magic.”
She looks at me incredulously. “I ah… I will show you out. You’re a tree and probably want to be outside where the trees are.”
She rises and strides towards the back windows, opening a sliding door. The cold is blasting in, and snow lands everywhere. For a second, I’m stunned. Is she kicking me out? I don’t want that! I feel the forest even better now that the barrier is gone, but it is nothing compared to how she makes me feel.
She looks at me, jaw set. “Well, uhm… bye!”
My mind starts whirling. I need to protest! “I…” but I get interrupted by a lyrical voice that suddenly sings.
‘But baby, it’s cold outsiiiiiiide.’
Chloe shivers, and my saplings sprout out and close the door. “You shouldn’t stay out in the cold that long; this is no weather for a human.”
“And I suppose it’s no weather for a … whatever you are?”
“I am one of the Tree People. We are spirits that wander in the forests; you may call them Dryads.”
“Well, shouldn’t trees be out in the woods?”
My mind spins with possibilities. I have to think up something that would make my lie believable. “It’s too cold not to be rooted. If I go outside now, I can’t bury my roots deep enough, and I will die.”
She gasps, and I know I should feel guilty for lying, but I’m not. I cannot stay away from her, and I move towards her. “Please let me stay…” I reach out and cup her cheek. The air sizzles, and tension rises between us.
“So, last night wasn’t a dream?” She sounds breathless, as if she’s as enthralled by me as I am by her.
“No, it was the best night of my life.”
She giggles, then shakes her head and gently pries my hand from her cheek.
“I uhm… I really liked it too, but we can’t do that again.”
“Why not?” I am baffled by this. Doesn’t she realize how great we were together?
“I can’t do sex stuff with a tree?”
“Dryad,” I correct her. “And we could do as much or as little as you want.”
A sudden thought hits me. “Did you not want my touch last night? Because you thought it was a dream?”
Her eyes widen, and she places her hand on my arm. “No, no, it’s okay. I wanted it, I just didn’t think it was real. Please don’t think you have violated me.”
“I did not?”
“No, no, I swear you didn’t.”
My magic, which was at full alert, settles back into my body. “I would never want that, would never do that.”
