The Mother Fig
Chrissy knelt at the base of the tree and looked around her, making sure she was alone. Alone except the goldfinches singing above and the crows she could hear in the distance, anyway. Satisfied, she stabbed her knife into the Mother Fig’s trunk. Her breath curled around her head as the white sap welled up in the wound and began dribbling down dark reddish bark. Cupping her hand under the gash in the wood, Chrissy collected the milky, sticky sap in her palm. She brought her hand to her mouth.
“Stop!”
Chrissy flinched, spilling the liquid to the dirt.
“Shit,” she hissed quietly. How were park rangers so sneaky. She stood and walked toward him, cradling what was left of the liquid in her palm. It was starting to sting a little.
“Ma’am, didn’t you read the signs?” The ranger pointed to the large, brightly colored signs posted along the waist-high fence Chrissy had jumped to get to the tree. She raised an eyebrow at him, she was not getting busted by a guy in calf-high socks with reflector stripes. She licked her sappy palm, grimaced, and spat into the dirt.
“Gross. I read online it was milk and this was some kind of sacred tree.” She took a step toward the ranger then paused. “Am I in trouble?”
“Digestive maybe. And I should bring you in for stabbing my tree. But I don’t want you in my office when Montezuma’s Revenge hits you, so just get the fuck out of my park.” He paused, fixing her with a stern gaze, “And no matter what happens, do not, I repeat, do not, come back here. Ever.” He turned his back to her. “Oh, and please post this whole episode on whatever site you’re into. Tired of you idiots.” He stalked off down the path.
“Hey nice socks, Ranger Danger!” Chrissy yelled after him. An infantile response, but it helped.
She hopped back over the fence, her tongue and throat already feeling fuzzy. Maybe she should read the signs. Something about ficus sap being toxic. It’s actually latex. Some people have severe allergic reactions.
“Shit.” She took off at a sprint for her car.
Halfway home her stomach started to churn. By the time she locked the door behind her, her throat was on fire and her tongue felt swollen.
It was not a great night. But that was legend tripping, some trips were good, some were really boring, and some just sucked. It was the thrill of not knowing what you’d find that drew many legend trippers out into the world of lore and legend, beast and specter.
Around three am, exhausted, empty, and puffy, but finally knocked out by the handful of Benadryl she’d taken, Chrissy’s tired mind opened up into an abyss.
The world was soft as silk and purple black. All around her a knowing void seemed to pulse and ripple, inhabiting space within and without her mind. There was noting but the void, undulating and silent, until, in the distance a golden pinpoint of light appeared, breaking through the dark. It grew, pushing the void back to the edges of her mind. Pushing until her world was golden and the dark only lurked around the borders, rippling and thrashing in its tight confines. Chrissy loved this new light, warm and rich and bright. As she watched, a new dark appeared in the center of the shimmer, veining and splitting like black lightning. A tree grew, its graceful branches swaying in her shining mind. As the branches grew, reaching closer and closer to the dark trapped at the edges of her awareness, the dark began to thrash. The black void threw sharp spikes at the tree, slicing off the tip of each branch as it reached the edge of the light.
Chrissy’s heart ached for the tree, imprisoned within the circle of light, kept from growing and thriving. She didn’t seem to have a body in the dream, but she could feel herself weeping. Feel the sorrow expanding inside her. A voice echoed through her head.
“Help me.”
Chrissy looked closely, there was no one in the frame of black, nothing but the tree stood in the halo of light.
“Please protect me.” The voice was soft and insistent, scared.
“Are you the tree?” Chrissy asked, her own voice sounding hollow and far away.
“I live within the tree. There are forces working to kill me. I need protection.”
“Ok. Sure.” Chrissy’s heart began to feel lighter, the darkness at the edges of her vision smoothed and faded.
The tree, grew.
Chrissy awoke with a headache, a stomachache, and a bad taste in her mouth. Her tongue was back to normal at least.
Apparently too much Benadryl and a latex allergy made for weird dreams. She made coffee and sat down at her computer, glad it was the weekend and she didn’t need to go anywhere. She logged into the local legend tripper forum where she’d first heard about the tree.
Sissy Chrissy: Hey guys, went to the Mother Fig yesterday. 0/10, do not recommend. First of all the sap isn't milk it's latex. It tastes like shit, gives you the shits, and if you’re allergic, like I apparently am, your tongue swells and you can't breathe unless you take a shit-ton of Benadryl, which then gives you weird ass dreams where the Mother Fig tells you it's in danger and needs your protection. Weird af.
Bonobo: LMFAO sounds hot what did the mother tree look like in your dreams?
Sissy Chrissy: Like a tree, dumbass
YetiFeet: Same thing happened to me. Got the shits, had a weird dream where the tree was in this circle of light. Voice said it lived inside the tree and needed me. Freaked me tfo.
Sissy Chrissy: Jesus, that’s the same dream I had. Fucking weird. How is that possible?
YetiFeet: The only explanation that makes sense is that there’s a chemical in the sap that elicits a certain response.
Bob9476: Or a parasite, or fungus. All that shit has mind control capabilities.
Sissy Chrissy: Fuuuuuck, I didn’t even think of that.
Jersey Devil's Mom: Same thing happened to me. This is freaking me out. Didn't write about it because I was too embarrassed by the shits, but since the same thing happened to you guys…
HollowNess: Hey did you guys get chased off by th agro ranger? Bet hes in on it. Had th dream to btw.
Bob9476: Oh hes definitely infected. You can see it in his eyes.
YetiFeet: Yep, guy with the reflector stripes on his socks?
Sissy Chrissy: Those socks!!! LMFAO!!
Jersey Devil’s Mom: I snuck in at night.
Sissy Chrissy: wtf do we do? Go to the hospital?
Bob9476: ain’t gonna no what to do. Wait it out.
YetiFeet: not an infection. Just a chemical. works like LSD or DMT or something.
Bob9476: Bro, do you even know what your talking about?
YetiFeet: Do u?