Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 148

This week's photo is from Christopher Marr, a Scottish photographer.   He shared this on twitter on 21st of September 2019 and said "I have so many questions ... I found this bench in the middle of some woods I was visiting for the first time. No paths or walkways, literally stumbled across it perfect".

It is indeed. I wonder what story might be behind it ... 

Again, Tricky is talking in my ear and this is one of her tales. And with each short piece, the larger picture appears. There'll be a book coming soon. 

(and for my own reference, here's a link through to the previous ones - linked on Week 138 - and the last one which was Week 146)

The General Guidelines can be found here.

How to create a clickable link in Blogger comments can be found on lasts week's post here.

There is also a Facebook group for Mid-Week Flash, if you fancy getting the prompt there.

Unearthed

It took a while for her to locate it, but she knew it was there – had been for centuries. And she was right, the forest had absorbed it. The trees saw the bench as one of their own; they might not be able to bring it back to life, but they could spread life over it.

The moss had done its magic and covered it in a velvet green blanket, making it more elusive. On closer inspection, Tricky was pleased to find the species of moss she was hoping for. This particular kind had carnivorous tendencies, which meant the bench had seen more than just backsides over the years, it had seen blood. And she was confident it was the blood of the man she had disposed of on John Thatcher’s behalf a decade ago. She needed his blood because she needed answers.

Tricky had hit a dead-end. She knew Carter had been in possession of the item she wanted – he’d taken it from her after all, even though he had feigned ignorance when he’d been alive. And although she had thought it sold on, she had come up empty handed when she had tracked its movements. Someone had double backed somewhere and she needed to know who. And she planned for him to tell her.

She got down on her knees in front of the bench and started scraping at the thicker spots of moss. They liked to hoard round the bigger blood spots. As she tipped them into the pot a pattern emerged on the wood, a sprayed effect and then a large area as though something had landed. If a limb had landed on here there had to be more remnants, maybe even a bone. Oh she’d be a lucky Tricky to find a whole bone. She’d be able to do the ceremony much more quickly and efficiently.

She scrabbled about in the earth under and around the bench and came up with many bones, but none of them human. She paused for a moment and listened. The trees knew and they were trying to tell her. She felt green energy rise in her body and tingle.

She stood, her eyes scanning the area as she let energy pour out of her. It accumulated round the base of a tree behind the bench. She stepped over to it; there was a small mound next to the trunk. She knelt down and pushed at it; it shifted easily enough and came away in her hand. She scraped away the mud and forest debris and let out a rasping laugh.

‘Oh my pretty, I’ve found you.’

She’d hoped for a piece of bone from one of the extremities, or maybe a rib, but with the forest on her side she’d hit the jackpot: this was a skull – Carter’s skull, she could feel it. And it was ready to talk.

She stuffed it into the hessian bag she’d brought and got back onto her feet. She laughed again as she spun in a circle, pouring out her deepest, highest golden energy as thanks to the trees, making everything glow around her. And then she was off. She didn’t have time to waste. The sooner she got him talking again, the sooner she would get the answers and be back on the trail of her beloved stolen treasure.