Treehugger

By Julie Reeser

Careful with his feet, slow with sound and swift with eye; she grew curious. A redhead – war-crier, she remembered they were called.

During the dark moon, another walker had circled her widdershins before tying a yellow ribbon around her waist. She worried at it, but couldn’t untie it. Instinct made her burrow deeper, and experience made her fret. Was she sick?

With deft hands the war-crier broke the ribbon from her skin. He smelled like good intentions. She fought a sneeze and rustled her leaves. He looked up and smiled. Then, to her delight, he began to climb.

     
Julie Reeser lives in a stone bowl in Montana. She is the author of Terracotta Pomegranate, and her work has been published by Zoetic Press, Timeless Tales Magazine, Black Denim Lit, and One Sentence Poems.