Lara’s Tree

Of course trees can talk to you. Sometimes they make the best of friends.

Check out “Lara’s Tree,” 2nd place winner for the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable’s 2016 Short Story Contest and written by yours truly–no, not the imp! We hope you will enjoy reading it as much as we loved writing (and rereading it) ourselves. It’s one of our favorites. Below is a small excerpt:

It was not a very nice tree. It was tall but rough, with strange pits and crevices in the bark that spiders liked to huddle in, or the busy ants used for thoroughfares. It should have been scolded for poor posture. Its lowest branches dragged to the brush, and it preferred growing sideways rather than up, as a lazy dreamer might, heavy with thinking and memory.

Lara did not know how old it was, but it was far older than she could guess and so, a very old tree indeed. Lara Bell was eleven. Her family lived in an apartment, second floor, Lloyd Street, on the left corner. She did not have any friends. Talking made her feel stiff and shy, and she was shy enough without words making it worse…

Click here for the rest of the story.