It all started one morning. I looked outside and saw a tree that wasn’t there before.
I just woke up, checked my news app and saw a bunch of articles about how people in my area vanished, ate breakfast, and looked out the window to see a tree that wasn’t there before.
The tree had a thick, stark white trunk and bright red leaves. It didn’t look like any species I’d seen before. At first I shrugged and assumed it was just some weird statue someone put up to mess with me.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how stupid I sound.
I called up a friend of mine, Jay, who specializes in botany.
I dialed their number and called them. “Hey, Jay?”
“What, Tom?”
“I just have a question.”
“Okay, shoot.”
“Is there any such thing as a completely white tree with bright red leaves? I found one in my yard.”
Jay was silent for a few minutes. “Not that I know of? Are you messing with me?”
“Just come over and I’ll show you. It’s pretty weird.”
“Okay, be there soon.” Jay hung up.
I waited an hour, occasionally checking to see if the tree was still there. I eventually heard a knock at the door.
I opened to see Jay. Jay looked very much like a tree. Tall, thin, and with curly hair like leaves. They wore glasses and always had a water bottle in hand at all times. They had a duffle bag of what I assume is their sciency stuff.
“Now, where is this weird tree?” Jay asked.
I guided them to my backyard and presented it.
Jay was left slack jawed and adjusted their glasses. “Holy shit, you were right.”
I playfully nudged their arm with my elbow. “And you thought I was messing with you!”
Jay walked up to the trunk and felt its bark. They rubbed their hand up and down.
“Weird. This bark, if it is bark, is oddly smooth. And it’s probably not just the wood because it doesn’t have splinters. Just smooth and dry.” Jay said, scratching their chin.
I walked up and felt it too. It felt less like wood and more like a dry bone.
“I’ll get a ladder.”
I went and grabbed my ladder and set it up at the base of the tree. I climbed up and looked at the leaves.
The leaves weren’t like any we have seen. It looked almost like a Christmas light but was around the size of a small pickle. I picked it and examined it. It felt like some sort of sac rather than a leaf and it was warm.
It pulsed and I dropped it out of disgust, nearly hitting Jay with it. The sac leaf popped like a water balloon and a red liquid poured from it.
Jay looked up. “Dude!”
“Sorry!” I shouted back.
Jay sighed and picked up the remains and put it in a plastic bag.
I picked another sac leaf and made sure to keep my cool this time. I climbed down and handed it to Jay.
We both walked inside and Jay got their set up ready for examination.
Jay took the popped sac and put it under the microscope first. Jay observed it and looked confused.
“Strange. These don’t look like plant cells. They look more like animal cells.”
I handed Jay the intact sac and they took a small blade and squeezed the liquid out of it onto a slide. They looked and I saw their eyes widen.
“Holy fuck…” They mouthed.
“What?”
“These are blood cells. Human blood cells.”
I couldn’t believe it either. “What?! How?”
“I don’t know! Maybe we discovered a new tree species or something!”
We both took a moment to process our discovery.
“So, we discovered a weird blood tree. So, what are our priorities? Get rich or kill it with fire?”
Jay furrowed their brow. “Let’s learn more about it and decide from there.”
We both got the proper equipment and went back out. We got tools from my garage, more sample bags, and a gun just in case.
I got back on the ladder and looked at the leaf sacs again. They appear to be attached by what are probably veins. The more I looked, the more they pulsed and throbbed and appeared to be getting fuller.
Jay decided to take some wood for analysis. They tapped a hammer and chisel against it. It was hollow sounding like the inside was empty.
Jay kept tapping until they chipped away some desirable pieces. They heard some moans combined with a wet sloshing noise. Jay decided to peek inside.
I heard Jay shriek like a little girl and I climbed down immediately.
Jay was sitting and freaking out.
“Dude what’s wrong?!”
Jay could barely speak, they just pointed and blathered about something horrible inside the tree.
I peeked inside and I couldn’t blame Jay for freaking out.
The inside had some sort of organic mass of flesh. It had a bunch of eyes, ears, mouths, noses, and limbs. It was attached to the ceiling and floor by veins, like a morbid cocoon.
A red, vine-like appendage grabbed Jay by the ankle and tried to pull them in. I grabbed my gun and shot at it, allowing Jay to be free and run back inside with the samples. The tree made a horrible shriek.
I ran back inside with Jay and locked the door.
We both were panting and shaking. I looked at Jay.
“Kill it with fire?” I ask between breaths.
“Kill it with fire.”
Jay looked at the fragments. They took one out and examined it.
“This is bone.” Jay mumbled.
“Maybe we should call a priest while we are at it. And maybe a therapist because we might need one.” I said jokingly to ease the terror.
“Destroy the weird meat tree first, then therapist.” Jay scolded.
We both devised a plan to destroy the blood tree. We both went out to grab as many propane tanks and gasoline cans as we could.
I used a lawn mower attached to a rope to safely push the tanks to the tree.
Jay tossed the gas cans as carefully as possible at the tree.
Once those were ready, I cocked my gun and shot the tanks and cans until they erupted. Each can and tank burst into flames and went up the tree.
The tree screamed and I could see the leaf sacs melt into goo and the bone trunk char away until we saw the flesh mass melt as well.
We watched it burn while sharing a beer until the screaming stopped.
The following morning, two men in suits came by after hearing about our little adventure.
The area where the tree had been destroyed had been cleaned up and Jay and I had been told to keep this hush hush.
Not that you guys believe me, but it would make for a fun story.
Jay left and we didn’t talk for a while after the incident.
The last I heard of Jay, they had called me after they had a medical emergency.
They had been experiencing shortness of breath and chest pains.
When they had an X-ray taken of them, they found a weird bone fragment in their lung.
One that was shaped like a tree sapling.