This naming dream contains some disturbing imagery. Caution is advised.
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The young colt stood outside of a very tall tree.
The trees' branches were long and green, they reached to the ground and tickled the grass. Fragrant, pink flowers, bloomed up and down them. When the breeze rustled, pink pedals rained onto the colt and tickled his face.
He smiled.
"You're beautiful!" he said brightly to the tree.
"Thank you little one." the tree said serenely.
"How is it you have such pretty flowers?" the colt asked innocently.
"Ohhh...." the tree said solemnly, "I think you are too young to know such things..."
The young colt puffed up his chest, squared his shoulders, and put on his most serious expression. "I am old enough!"
"No..I don't think.."
"I AM! I really am!" he insisted
"Well..."
"Pleaasee...." he pleaded, now trying to look cute.
"Mmmmm...." The tree went silent for a long while. The colt sat down and waited, still looking up at the branches, holding his adorable expression. "Well....if you think so little one...come closer to me."
The colt sprang to his hooves and stepped closer to the tree, his tail wagging merrily.
"Closer, closer." the tree cooed. The long branches seemed to urge the little boy forward, tickling the back of his legs. They spread apart in front of him and fell closed behind him.
He came to the base of the trunk. The big, thick roots of the tree burrowed into the ground.
"I'm a tree, as a smart little buck like you knows, and as a tree, I eat my food and drink my water through my roots. So everything I need to live, to be strong, to be beautiful, is under my roots. Do you want to see?"
He nodded enthusiastically.
"Look there." A branch seemed to point to a large opening between several of the thickest roots of the tree. The boy moved forward, ducking into the den under the trunk and stopped.
He gasped.
Then screamed.
White bones and skulls stuck up out of the soil. Some were clean, some still had flesh and meat rotting on them. A partially decomposing body is among the bones. It was small, orange, with blue swirls. It was bloated and maggots pulsed all over it, falling out it's open mouth and eye sockets. It used to be pretty.
It used to be a filly.
He scrambled backwards out of the den, falling onto his hindquarters, hyperventilating. His mouth and nose were filled with the smell and taste of decay and he vomited.
"Oh hohohohoho!" The tree giggled. "Did you learn what you wanted to know? Is your curiosity satisfied? You know what they say about curiosity and the owlcat." It chided him, giggling again.
"Wh..what the hell..." The colt gasped in great lung fulls of air, trying to steady himself.
"Death..makes the prettiest flowers bloom."
"You..you killed those foals.."
"Their red blood flows through my roots and into my flowers, and make them such a pretty shade of pink. My flowers ARE beautiful aren't they? AREN'T THEY?" The tree boomed this question and the whole thing shook, raining pedals down onto the colt.
Except this time, he didn't see them as pedals. He saw them as blood, droplets of blood. He screamed.
"I'm so glad your a big, strong boy." The tree hissed, "Because I need a strong, young buck to feed me this Spring."
He began to scramble backwards as the branches reached out to him. He tumbled backwards, tail over nose and back on his feet. He began to run. But the branches were faster then he. They whipped and wrapped around him faster then a striking snake, around his legs, around his torso, and around his neck. They started to constrict.
The colt kicked and squirmed, trying to fight the branches, but they had a tight grip on him.
"No! Nooo! Stop please! Why are you doing this!"
"Because.." the tree cooed in a cold, yet soothing voice. "I need more norishment so I can stay beautiful. You want me to stay beautiful, don't you?" It almost sounded like it was pleading to him.
The boy struggled hard but every movement made the branches squeeze tighter. His vision was going dark. "Noo! Noo! Please! HELP ME! HELP! MOMMY!!" The colt gagged, his screaming wasting his air supply, allowing the branches to constrict tighter around his chest and neck.
"Shh...shh...." the tree whispered. "Soon you will be a part of me......"
As the colt's struggles weakened and his body slackened, the tree's branches slowly uncoiled around his limbs and the one around his body loosened and also wrapped around his neck. The tree lifted his limp form high. He struggled to intake air but the branches were too tight. His vision went dark and foam leaked from his muzzle.
".....and I will be beautiful for another year."
A creaking rattle issued from his mouth and his head lolled to the side. Sensing it's prey was dead, the tree dropped the corpse roughly to the ground.
But he wasn't dead. Not yet.
The impact into the earth jolted his body back to life. He gulped in a huge breath of air and then screamed.
The tree was in shock.
Instinct took over. The will to live brought strength to his battered, weakened body and he began to run. The branches of the tree reached out for the fleeing colt, wrapping around his ankles, trying to drag him back into the roots, into the den of death. But he was stronger this time and he was faster this time. He ripped the branches from the tree as he fled. The tree shook and screamed in pain, but he kept running.
It seemed like forever that he crashed through the grasping, coiling, bloody pink limbs. The tree cursed and screamed at him as he burst through the canopy and back into the cool air. Even free now, safe from the reach of the tree, he kept running, bolting into the swamp. The branches that were ripped off coiled tighter around his body, twitching in their agony at being separated from the tree.
The colts' lungs burned, his legs screamed, and his body finally gave out. He collasped to the ground, his front legs slipping in mud, causing him to skid for a moment or two before finally coming to a stop on his side, legs a skewed.
He laid there in the mud, tears streaming down his cheeks, foam and spit leaking down his chin, gasping in the cold air. His entire body burned from the running and ached from the fall and struggling. Red marks criss crossed and checked over his neck. Others coiled and whipped around his body and legs.
The young buck lay in the mud, sobbing, screaming hysterically every time the branches twitched in their death throws. Soon, his voice was raw and his screams turned into horse whimpers, but the branches finally, finally were still.
Exhaustion was swift and overwhelmed him quickly. His vision blurred and went dark again.
"Remember.." the tree's voice whispered in his head as he blacked out. "Death makes the prettiest flowers bloom in the Spring Time."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The young colt stood outside of a very tall tree.
The trees' branches were long and green, they reached to the ground and tickled the grass. Fragrant, pink flowers, bloomed up and down them. When the breeze rustled, pink pedals rained onto the colt and tickled his face.
He smiled.
"You're beautiful!" he said brightly to the tree.
"Thank you little one." the tree said serenely.
"How is it you have such pretty flowers?" the colt asked innocently.
"Ohhh...." the tree said solemnly, "I think you are too young to know such things..."
The young colt puffed up his chest, squared his shoulders, and put on his most serious expression. "I am old enough!"
"No..I don't think.."
"I AM! I really am!" he insisted
"Well..."
"Pleaasee...." he pleaded, now trying to look cute.
"Mmmmm...." The tree went silent for a long while. The colt sat down and waited, still looking up at the branches, holding his adorable expression. "Well....if you think so little one...come closer to me."
The colt sprang to his hooves and stepped closer to the tree, his tail wagging merrily.
"Closer, closer." the tree cooed. The long branches seemed to urge the little boy forward, tickling the back of his legs. They spread apart in front of him and fell closed behind him.
He came to the base of the trunk. The big, thick roots of the tree burrowed into the ground.
"I'm a tree, as a smart little buck like you knows, and as a tree, I eat my food and drink my water through my roots. So everything I need to live, to be strong, to be beautiful, is under my roots. Do you want to see?"
He nodded enthusiastically.
"Look there." A branch seemed to point to a large opening between several of the thickest roots of the tree. The boy moved forward, ducking into the den under the trunk and stopped.
He gasped.
Then screamed.
White bones and skulls stuck up out of the soil. Some were clean, some still had flesh and meat rotting on them. A partially decomposing body is among the bones. It was small, orange, with blue swirls. It was bloated and maggots pulsed all over it, falling out it's open mouth and eye sockets. It used to be pretty.
It used to be a filly.
He scrambled backwards out of the den, falling onto his hindquarters, hyperventilating. His mouth and nose were filled with the smell and taste of decay and he vomited.
"Oh hohohohoho!" The tree giggled. "Did you learn what you wanted to know? Is your curiosity satisfied? You know what they say about curiosity and the owlcat." It chided him, giggling again.
"Wh..what the hell..." The colt gasped in great lung fulls of air, trying to steady himself.
"Death..makes the prettiest flowers bloom."
"You..you killed those foals.."
"Their red blood flows through my roots and into my flowers, and make them such a pretty shade of pink. My flowers ARE beautiful aren't they? AREN'T THEY?" The tree boomed this question and the whole thing shook, raining pedals down onto the colt.
Except this time, he didn't see them as pedals. He saw them as blood, droplets of blood. He screamed.
"I'm so glad your a big, strong boy." The tree hissed, "Because I need a strong, young buck to feed me this Spring."
He began to scramble backwards as the branches reached out to him. He tumbled backwards, tail over nose and back on his feet. He began to run. But the branches were faster then he. They whipped and wrapped around him faster then a striking snake, around his legs, around his torso, and around his neck. They started to constrict.
The colt kicked and squirmed, trying to fight the branches, but they had a tight grip on him.
"No! Nooo! Stop please! Why are you doing this!"
"Because.." the tree cooed in a cold, yet soothing voice. "I need more norishment so I can stay beautiful. You want me to stay beautiful, don't you?" It almost sounded like it was pleading to him.
The boy struggled hard but every movement made the branches squeeze tighter. His vision was going dark. "Noo! Noo! Please! HELP ME! HELP! MOMMY!!" The colt gagged, his screaming wasting his air supply, allowing the branches to constrict tighter around his chest and neck.
"Shh...shh...." the tree whispered. "Soon you will be a part of me......"
As the colt's struggles weakened and his body slackened, the tree's branches slowly uncoiled around his limbs and the one around his body loosened and also wrapped around his neck. The tree lifted his limp form high. He struggled to intake air but the branches were too tight. His vision went dark and foam leaked from his muzzle.
".....and I will be beautiful for another year."
A creaking rattle issued from his mouth and his head lolled to the side. Sensing it's prey was dead, the tree dropped the corpse roughly to the ground.
But he wasn't dead. Not yet.
The impact into the earth jolted his body back to life. He gulped in a huge breath of air and then screamed.
The tree was in shock.
Instinct took over. The will to live brought strength to his battered, weakened body and he began to run. The branches of the tree reached out for the fleeing colt, wrapping around his ankles, trying to drag him back into the roots, into the den of death. But he was stronger this time and he was faster this time. He ripped the branches from the tree as he fled. The tree shook and screamed in pain, but he kept running.
It seemed like forever that he crashed through the grasping, coiling, bloody pink limbs. The tree cursed and screamed at him as he burst through the canopy and back into the cool air. Even free now, safe from the reach of the tree, he kept running, bolting into the swamp. The branches that were ripped off coiled tighter around his body, twitching in their agony at being separated from the tree.
The colts' lungs burned, his legs screamed, and his body finally gave out. He collasped to the ground, his front legs slipping in mud, causing him to skid for a moment or two before finally coming to a stop on his side, legs a skewed.
He laid there in the mud, tears streaming down his cheeks, foam and spit leaking down his chin, gasping in the cold air. His entire body burned from the running and ached from the fall and struggling. Red marks criss crossed and checked over his neck. Others coiled and whipped around his body and legs.
The young buck lay in the mud, sobbing, screaming hysterically every time the branches twitched in their death throws. Soon, his voice was raw and his screams turned into horse whimpers, but the branches finally, finally were still.
Exhaustion was swift and overwhelmed him quickly. His vision blurred and went dark again.
"Remember.." the tree's voice whispered in his head as he blacked out. "Death makes the prettiest flowers bloom in the Spring Time."