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The Story:

Something about the pond told her she should turn around, walk away, never return. But her curiosity was an impulse she had never been able to ignore, and a thousand warning signs could never dissuade her.

She stepped up to the pond’s glassy edge to inspect it, but all she saw was her own reflection. A spot of dirt was on her face, so she wiped it off with her sleeve. After the dirt was gone, she put her arm down, but her reflection didn‘t. She watched as her reflection looked over to a black tree near her, smiled as if it heard something wonderful, and ran to it.

Her reflection no longer appeared in the water, and she jumped backward. She grabbed at her chest, feeling like something had been taken from her. She tried to run but collapsed into the mud, gasping for air. Every joint in her body was freezing up. Having never felt it before, she knew this was the feeling of death.

“Come back over here.”

She obeyed the voice, instinctively, just wanting to live. Crawling through the mud, she moved closer to the black tree her reflection ran to.

Once she had reached the water’s edge, her strength returned. She wobbled to her feet, staring at the tree. And in the trunk of the black tree, a face emerged. It was her own.

“We can be happy here,” the face said.
“No, you’ve been deceived.”

She understood, now. No one can survive apart from his or her soul. And sometimes the soul had different desires than the mind. Most evils in the world killed the body, but not the black tree. It captured the soul.

“I’m your body.”
“But the tree loves me. It told me.”
“It’s lying. It can’t love you.”
“It does! It knows every perfect word to say.”
“Does it make you laugh?”

Her soul contemplated laughter, thinking of all the moments they had shared together. The laughter had fed her. It had brightened her days. Yes, laughter was essential. She couldn’t live without laughter.

The face in the tree receded, and her reflection returned at the water’s edge. It smiled at her before settling into its usual mimicry. She couldn’t see anything different, but she could feel the tree’s anger.

 

What do you all think of this story? If you want it to be included in the voting for the next short film, be sure to let me know in the comments below!

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