The Green Man’s Warning

by Alexandra Dean

In the dripping, sun-sprinkled early morning I see you walking through the greenwood. You’re up bright and early but, alas, not to enjoy the sparkling lightness of the birdsong which echoes among the trees.

You’re here to destroy.

You see the lush fecundity of nature’s wealth as an obstacle and you’re here to bring death to the trees and the flowers which means you’re also here for the bees and insects and the bats which feed on them.

I must say I never thought the world’s destroyer would be so … ordinary.

Neither did you. Your own literature has imagined this figure many times. Every time it was someone considerably more impressive.

Now all the creatures of this prized space are waking up to your presence, learning that their world will soon be gone. And what for?

Of course. Money.

Even the people who live here don’t want what you’re bringing. Their protests have been small but fiercely felt; they’ve created placards; stood in the rain.

But the strident screech of self-interest drowns out all other voices.

I must warn you that the trees aren’t happy. It’s just as well you can’t hear them - their searing, blistering wrath would haunt your dreams; stalk your waking consciousness. I can hear their rage as a bone-deep, rumbling roar which echoes from their roots and reverberates through their trunks as it rises into the air. You might hear a rustling of their leaves.

You should fear them.

Now I see you stagger, just a little. Your stumble is the beginning. Now a few tremors; the trees are lifting their roots.

The trees are on the move now, intent on stopping you and all those others here to destroy. You’re lucky, in a way. Few ever get to see this phenomenon. That MP you brought with you is still droning on from his prepared speech. Too well trained to ignore questions to pause even at the sound of hundred of trees heading towards him.

Please know that I wish to save you too. You also are part of this natural world, much as you try to ignore it. All the things in this wood are more important, more beneficial and more health-giving than those few extra miles of road will ever be.

Don’t let those who don’t live in the same world as us ever convince you otherwise.