The Night's Fire-flaught (and 8 other winter stories)

The Crying Tree

It's a hard tree to come by, the Quercus Polifera. Its sprouting is entirely random, for one, a freak mutation of the simple Quercus Robur, the Great Oak. Its leaves sport a sparkling white for many weeks. Each occurrence is a marvel in and of it itself, with tourists rushing to get a mere glimpse at its grey bark and its snow-textured roots. Scientists have dissected it, taking it apart piece by piece, but every February it's turned into nothing but water, a phenomenon. Its most intriguing feature, however, is its naturally forming Icicles. Exactly a week after it sprouts those sparkling white leaves, they droop and curl, forming glistening Icicles, that unfurl at a person's touch, and release the most ungodly sound. Unfortunately, almost as fast as it grows does it collapse. The structure inside the bark is barely stable, the mutation damaging the cells forming the trunk, and the water it consumes pushing out and falling at the base, bringing the tree with it. It's a pure sight to see, those icicles. The ghost tree, people sometimes call it. I prefer 'The crying tree' myself.