Caleb and the Talking Tree (short story)

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Short stories
By grace

Caleb and the talking trees

Caleb Garner sat quietly on a bench in Westmear Park. The cold nipped at his nose, turning it a Rudolph red.
His carhartt beanie, slung lazily on top of his dark ginger hair, part of it still peeking out and moving side to side with the wind.
He glanced around, the trees howling like singing voices in the distance. He inhaled sharply, feeling the sharp clean air of Colorado shock his lungs. This sudden breath of air causes him to cough dryly.
He's supposed to be at school, but he didn't go. He doesn't know what's stopping him, he just got a sudden urge to sit and not go. "Maybe it was a spirit." Caleb said quietly to himself. He shook the thought out of his head. "Don't be stupid Caleb." He swallowed hard, considering the possibility subconsciously.
Hey lay on the bench sketching the trees, and the occasional bird he saw land on a uneven branch on the old rotting tree. There were circular knots in the tree which made it look like a face.
His ears were numb with frostbite and the tip of his skinny fingers were red from a few occasional snowflakes falling into them and melting away, his skin absorbing the cold, icy liquid.
His breath reflecting onto his fingers every few seconds kept his fingers from going numb, in which he was thankful for because if it weren't for his breath, his fingers would be red and numb as well as his ears.
The trees howled like wolves in the night, or like coyotes calling to their pack. He liked the noise the trees made when their brown frozen leaves brush up against each other every so often. It was calming. To him, it could have easily been his favorite sound in the world.
One thing Caleb started to notice was that there weren't any people walking through the park. The park he was at was usually filled, even crowded with tourists, families, or just a single person by themself. But not today. He wasn't complaining, but he was a bit confused by this. 'Usually people use this walkway to get to work or brunch. It is a Monday after all, so where are they?' Caleb thought. 'Maybe they found a new path?' Caleb pondered this for a while, but soon enough all thoughts erased from his sharp mind because of a voice.
It didn't sound human, nor did it sound mammal. 'Maybe I'm just hearing things.' Caleb tried to calm himself, for this thought had worried him. After all, he was all alone, in a park, hearing voices.
He picked at a hangnail on his right hand thumb, making it bleed. He squeezed his thumb with a Kleenex and shivered in the freezing cold of Denver, Colorado.
He heard the voice again, but this time it was more like a howl.
'Like the howl of the trees...' Caleb looked around him and saw nobody. He stood up and brushed the eraser shavings off his nirvana tee shirt and puffy down jacket and started walking along the path, looking for the cause of the howl.
He shivered in the chilly winter of the forest. "This better be good." He mumbled under his breath.
Soon enough, after wondering aimlessly through the forest, he saw a willow tree, with branches the size of a school bus. The branches swooped down in a lazy manner that tempted him to swing from it. He swallowed hard and walked closer to the tree, noticing the leaves moving with the wind. It almost seemed as if the tree was welcoming him, for the leaves wrapped around him cleanly and dragged back along the grass.
He heard the howl again, coming directly from the willow. He climbed on a thick root and sat down cries cross. "Are you a spirit?" He looked at the very top of the tree, which could have easily been a mile according to his imagination. The tree howled again, louder, at a lower pitch. He took that as a yes.
"Why are you talking to me?" He asked, his voice dry and quiet from dehydration. The tree howled, a more quiet howl, still at the lowest pitch, which if translated from tree to human (if that was even possible) could have been a mumble.
"My soul is lonely." The tree seemed to say. Caleb nodded in sad agree,ent. "Me too." He swallowed. The fact that he was talking to a tree would not hit him until later that afternoon, sitting in his room playing some form of video game that surely involved killing zombies.
"Companion." The tree howled, the pitch changing. Caleb, of course, had no clue what that meant or how to respond to that. "What does that mean?" Caleb shifted his position. "You, companion." The tree spoke quietly. Caleb understood now. "You want me to be your friend?" Caleb asked, a smile forming on his red cheeked face. The leaves of the tree wrapped around the upper half of his body.
'Its hugging me. The tree is hugging me.' This action made Calebs smile grow. "Is that why you were howling? Was that you crying?" He asked, feeling a sudden guilt flood his body. The branch weakened and Caleb understood. "I'm sorry I didn't notice earlier." Caleb pinched the back of his neck. The tree howled a comforting howl which surely meant 'Its okay.'
"But I'll happily be your friend, if you'll take me." He smiled brightly. The tree tilted forward, making a creaky noise, like a door in the middle of the night. 'The tree is saying yes.' Caleb nodded and stood up. "I'm Caleb." He offered his hand out. The leaves of the tree reached out and shook his hand. "I'll call you tree." He shrugged. "It's not the most creative name, but it fits." He clasped his hands behind his back. The tree howled a deep, kind, gentle howl and picked Caleb up and lifted him to the very top of the tree.
He gasped as he was lifted, the air pushing out of his lungs. He held his breath until he got to the top. Tree set him on the very center of the top, giving him a view of the town nearby. His breath was taken straight from him. The view shocked him. "It's so beautiful." He said weakly. He felt as I'd he was going to faint. He admired the now blurring city lights as his eyes got heavy. Soon enough, his eyes closed completely, sending him into a deep sleep.

Caleb woke up suddenly, he was in his bunk bed. He looked out the window of the top bunk and looked around. He wasn't on the tree anymore. He considered that it was all a dream, until his mom walked in.
"Caleb, care to explain why you were passed out by a tree in the park last night?" She glared. She was carrying his sleeping little sister in her tired arms. Caleb sneezed, once realizing he had a cold. 'It wasn't a dream.' Caleb soon wore a tired smile and looked at his mom.
"I made a friend."

The end