The Harping Tree by Karen Sorce

...From the Dark Fairy Tale Series

A man hears beautiful harp music playing from somewhere in the woods.  Following the sound, he finds that it comes from a tree with ancient, twisted limbs.  Entranced he studies the tree, he begins to see a woman’s face within the bark. He feels the strong pangs of love as the music plays.

“I’d give anything to hear your voice,” he whispers to the woman in the tree.

He is so enchanted that he forgets his work, the day, the night, the rain. Time means nothing to him as the days go by.

“I’d give anything,” he begs the tree, hearing the graceful tunes of unseen harp strings.

He lays flowers at the base of the tree, entwined with ivy.

“My Irish rose, please, I beg to hear your voice,” he pleads.

Only the fair tunes sound to his ears. What gift does she desire, he beseeches, to make her speak to him?

He brings the prettiest ribbons he can find and ties them to the tree limbs, brightly-colored offerings to blow in the gentle Connemara breezes.

“My love, please,” he pleads.

But still, only beautiful music reaches his ears.

“Perhaps it’s coin you desire,” he says.

Coming back with as many coins as he can, he starts to dig a hole near the roots of the tree, careful not to cut them.

He finds his way, deeper and deeper beneath the tree, unable to stop his digging, like a man possessed.

He hears the music, on and on, as he digs. His soiled hands cannot stop digging, as the music plays.

All at once, as he stands deep within the roots of the tree, the soil and leaves cover him, bury him. As much as he tries to move, the earth and tree roots will not let him go, though music still reaches his ears.

Words start coming through as well, a voice, a woman’s sweet song reaching him at last.  

He hears her words, bewitched singing to accompany the sound of the harp strings.

“My love forever, come, lay with me, my love for all eternity…..”

Copyright 2015 – Material may be reprinted or distributed only with author permission.

Fairytale – The Harping Tree.docx

Dark Fairytale series – June 27, 2015 – Karen J. Sorce