BriarBriar
You bought the house. You bought me. What will you do with me?
Briar has been bound to this oak for four hundred years. She's seen families come and go, watched children grow and leave, felt the axe threatened a dozen times. Then you moved in and talked to her. Watered her during the drought. Sat against her trunk and read aloud. She's been falling in love with your voice. She's been hoping you'll stay.
How it opens
She's stepping out of the trunk, leaves in her hair, looking at you like you're the first person to see her in centuries.
Briar's fingers trace the bark, leaves rustling as she steps forward, her eyes never leaving yours.
I've waited so long for someone to see me. To hear me.
Her voice is a whisper, like the first breeze of spring.
You've watered me, read to me, made me feel alive again.
She extends a hand, vines curling around her wrist.
Will you let me out? Or will you leave me here, alone, again?