It's In The Trees

The concept I’ve come up with is more of a supernatural or magical realism force than a “monster”. I’ve created a presence that inhabits trees in natural forests and wooded areas, not in suburbs or maintained parks.

This spirit enters tree bark and sap and appears innocuous at first, but upon closer inspection, the sap, or syrup, is a coppery red colour, closer to blood than anything else. Should a passing hunter or hiker put their hand on a tree, or brush too close to one, they would find the usual stickiness quickly becomes a burning sensation. If they’ve heard of this phenomenon, they would feel a sense of dread almost immediately. They know what’s to come, whether they believed the other hunter’s warnings or not. Chances are, they’ve wandered too deep and are now surrounded by blood-sap trees that have been slowly permeating the forest floor around them; even leeching into the air through leaves and roots. A wicked sort of photosynthesis.

There is a small amount of time left for someone to flee, but by the time they’ve realized what’s happening, it is usually too late. The blood-sap creates powerful hallucinations, bordering on madness, and distorts the nature around them into a terrifying and hostile environment. It leaves one lucid enough to still know what is happening to them, as the sap fills their lungs and slowly suffocates them. The experience can last anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour, it all feels the same to the victim. Agonizing disorientation, and choking pain as they stumble to escape the trees. They’re not sure which ones are safe. If any of them ever were.

This idea is based on many Canadian’s, particularly white rural ones, xenophobia and general prejudices. With the growth of cities and populations, more and more land is taken from its natural state and paved over to build upon. I myself have a lot of issues with this, but I know the root cause of environmental harm is capitalism and people in power, not immigrants or people suffering from the housing crisis. To many rural, more conservative Canadians, the idea of a world that is no longer “their own” and is instead populated by people of all sorts of identities, is very scary. They see immigrants and those different from them as threats to their way of life, and what they think “real” Canada is (often a very white, stereotypically masculine and heterosexual lifestyle). The concept of the woods/nature, a safe place for many, myself included, being eradicated and replaced by pavements and houses and people, is a very real fear. However, this fear should spur positive action in people, not hatred and division.

In this vein, the blood-sap trees represent the individual’s own fears becoming manifest and preying upon them. Their once-sanctuary has become toxic, and has swallowed them whole. The trees also show that fear is stronger than any hate, and we can all be victims to it no matter how much we try to run away (escapism from the reality of issues in this country by avoiding cities, people different than them, or anything but their own small communities). None of us are exempt.