The Rewind Tree

It started when I was drinking coffee in my dressing gown one morning. I liked to drink it standing at the bay window and watching the early morning world go by. People watching gives me fodder for my stories.

But also, I loved this house. It fit me like a good shoe. I got a sense of contentment and satisfaction from seeing the nice things success had brought me, and from seeing everything just how I liked it.

Picture it: me, tousle-haired and bleary-eyed, coming to the window with my mug. Watching folks, both familiar and not, going by, and-

There’s a tree out there.

I scowl at it (for all the good it does).

For context, there are no trees on this road.

I nipped next door and when the old dear answered my knock, I asked her, “When did they put a tree there?” She gave me a look as if I was being strange, and shut the door in my face.

When the postman came, I ambushed him with the same question. He laughed, and walked away with a cheery wave.

I stopped a woman pushing a pram. “Excuse me,” I said, “d’you see that tree?” She looked at it, and back to me, a tense expression as if she expected to be sold something or have a leaflet about God or climate change waved in her face at any moment.

“Yeees,” she said warily.

“How long has it been there?”

She shrugged. “Dunno. It’s always been there, hasn’t it?”

All day, the same thing. Everyone laughed, avoided me, or their expression glazed over and then they claimed it had always been there.

My morning vigils took on new weight. More trees appeared, each one having "always been there". Houses vanished. There were fewer cars on the road. Yesterday morning I started when I realised I’d only seen two, and neither would have looked out of place in a costume drama set in the 1920s.

I’m writing this on an ancient typewriter that sits where my computer should be. I tried to tell the maid about it. She looked confused, gave a nervous giggle and scurried away.

I don’t have a maid.

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Word count (excluding note): 366 words

Submitted on 16th February at 18:00

*Quick Author's Note*

As always, thank you for reading! I do my best to reciprocate all reads, so please do leave a comment to make that easy for me. If you enjoyed this story, the best compliment you can give me is to share it, or read another 😁

The story behind the story: I'm writing a story every day this year. This one makes a 47 day streak. I am into week seven, with no sign of stopping or slowing down! You can find all of them in my Index post, which I do my best to update once or twice a week at least. It's also pinned to the top of my profile.

If you'd like to read another, here's my recommendation: this is one of my favourites I've done recently. Let me know what you think!

If you're joining me on this "story every day" madne adventure, please leave a link to yours in the comments! Whether you're on a creative bent like me, or if you have your own self-imposed criteria, I'd love to see what you come up with for today.

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