stump

Instructions

As you wandered in a small village in the green country of Switzerland, you spotted small shops and restaurants backed with a mesmerizing view of imposing mountains upon a bright blue sky, seas of lush forests scattered below. yet it failed to take your breath away, for you were indifferent to such things. you walked along the road, the asphalt rough and hard beneath your dollar store sandals. while your family gaped and gasped at the once-in-a-lifetime views, you stared straight ahead, unimpressed by the picturesque backdrops. as you continued onward, something caught your eye: a small clearing of sorts, padded by light brown mulch. a rickety fence ringed the back half of the area, presumably to prevent the small-minded tourist from falling to their death mid-selfie. your eyes scanned the clearing. nothing new, nothing impressive. that was, until you saw the stump. Chapter 1 as your eyes laid upon it, you seemed to understand what your family felt looking at the beautiful views that were the backdrop of the village. but those views mattered less than the most minuscule particle of dust in comparison to this magical piece of sophisticated architecture. it was like a dream. eyes wide, everything else faded and blurred away until it was just you and the stump. you took a couple slow steps forward, your breath caught in your chest, arm outstretched. as you reached for the stump, you felt a stabbing fear that your fingers would simply pass through the beautiful work of art and you’d wake up in a cold sweat in your bed, the rose-tinted memory of the sweet stump you could’ve had tormenting you constantly, a perpetual, unwanted presence in your mind. but no, to your absolute ecstasy, you could feel the stump, still-warm from the heat of the sun, beneath your light touch. your heart began to beat faster until you were sure it would pound out of your chest. no one else existed in this moment. nothing else at all. it would not matter if a meteor struck down the earth at this moment, for you would be with your stump. Chapter 2 Dreamy were you as you gazed upon the stump. oh, there were not enough words in the universe to describe its beauty. smooth beneath your feather-soft touch, ever so slightly worn, like a well-loved book. you slowly wove through each and every crack and crevice, as if each held some new undiscovered beauty you were yet to witness. it was a warm, rich chocolate brown with a soft cream top, smoothened and sun-kissed. slowly, carefully, as if a sudden movement would whisk the breathtaking beauty away, you climbed atop the stump, settling on it, legs a few inches above the soft mulched ground. and as you opened your eyes, the world seemed to change before you. suddenly everything you were so indifferent to became fantastically bright. the views you had once scoffed at took your breath away, the once-sickly-sweet scent of the clusters of magenta flowers became lightly fragrant, and the simply beauty of the world had you slack-jawed and wide-eyed. it was almost as if you were seeing the world from the stump’s simple but sweet perspective. it lent you its optimism, its steady power, its strong flow of support. it gave you life and brought you back from the depths of indifference. it was all you could do to take the beautiful, beautiful world in. the spell would never be broken, you never wanted it to be. that was, until you felt a chilling presence behind you. Chapter 3 it was like glass shattering. your rose-tinted glasses felt from their place upon the bridge of your nose and plummeted in slow motion towards the tan ground. you turned fearfully, hoping against hope that it was simply a friendly passerby, seeking directions to the nearest restaurant or perhaps an accessible restroom. but you knew, deep in your heart, that it could not be an amiable pedestrian. it was something more sinister, a vile thing that would spread its icy aura over your world, making the bright sky bleak and the lush forests sparse. you felt a tap on your shoulder that turned your blood to ice. a hoarse, scratchy voice murmured a simple couple sentences, and your heart dropped so low in your chest you feared it was gone for good. “could you move? I’d like to take a picture here.” Move? move? the audacity! and right after seeing the hidden beauty the stump held, it wrenched your already-crushed heart to even think of leaving. but you must. the stump was yet to belong to you, to your absolute despair. with a heavily reluctant nod and a barely masked glare of pure hatred, you slid off of the stump. as your feet grazed the ground, your energy, your life force, the power the stump had given you seemed to seep into the ground until you felt empty and hollow. the light the stump had lent you was on borrowed time, and now it was over. with a last look of mingled depression and fury at the vile creature, you trudged away, feeling your hope dwindle into nothing as the distance between you and your stump increased.