Jasmine and The Green Man

Dear friends, I would like to tell you a story. A story about an innocent young girl, a town in peril, and something ... *unspeakable*. Allow me to begin...

~~~~~

Once upon a time, there was a young human girl named Jasmine. She and her family lived in a small village by the name of Mandra. It was a quaint, peaceful place. Everyone in town knew one another, everyone was courteous and all was well.

Until the well ran dry.

People didn't even realize until the second day. There was no more water. That meant no drinking water, no bathing water, no water for the crops. Without water the crops would die. Without crops there was no money. Without money there was no more fresh meat, no coal, no nothing! Everything had fallen apart.

At first, people tried to stay calm. We can still gather water from morning dew and berries, they said. Weeks passed like this, the crops withering away, people's throats dry as death. Soon enough, people grew restless; desperate. Desperate people make poor decisions; they seek a scapegoat.

Townspeople began to turn on each other. They blamed the old well-keeper for hoarding nonexistent water. Rumor can quickly become fact in troubled times like these. One dark night a crazed mob lynched the poor man and ransacked his home searching for water. When none was found, they burned it down.

After a month of dew-water and berry juice, people began to die. Either from dehydration (water from the morning dew and berry juices simply wasn't enough) or rioters, it didn't matter. Jasmine was frightened. Her father sat huddled in the corner of his room singing about mice and clocks, and her mother was bedridden by dehydration. Those who hadn't lost their minds or their lives, prayed to the gods. Any gods; good, evil, apathetic, it was irrelevant so long as they would bring salvation with them.

One morning, after gathering the dew for her mother, Jasmine crept out of her home and went to the withered forest at the edge of town. She had always liked it there. When the wind blew through the leaves, the trees seemed to speak to her, in their own way. Now though, all the leaves had dried up and the wood cracked from lack of water.

She would have cried, but she was so thirsty that she couldn't. So she just sat there, at the edge of the wood, in silence. For how long she did not know. She just sat.

And sat.

And sat.

Then, after an eternity, she stood. She rubbed her face, to wake it up, shook her legs free of pins and needles, and turned to leave. Then she heard the woods speaking to her again. She stopped abruptly and turned around, confused. The leafs had all fallen, turned to dust in the wind.

And there He stood.

He was a man. At least, He has the shape of one, thought Jasmine. He was also a tree. His body was made of branches, His muscles were withering grasses. He didn't have a face like you or I, but He had something. Long ears of crisp leafs, hair of curly moss. His nose was pressed against His head, nostrils only. His eyes made Jasmine nervous. They looked like the night sky in winter, but deeper. Bigger. Worse.

"Hello there little girl." He whispered, like the trees.

"Who are you?" Jasmine asked. Her mother would have shouted at her, saying Jasmine! That is rude! But she was lying in bed, dying from thirst.

He crooked his head to the side. He seemed to be grinning, but he had no mouth that Jasmine could see. "I, dear one, am The Green Man." He whispered. He bowed with a flourish, like someone from a castle would to a king. Jasmine thought He must be important. She gave Him a little curtsy, but she wasn't very good. She stumbled a little.

"I see that there is no water in these parts?" He whispered, with a tone of surprise in His leafy voice. Jasmine knew that He wasn't human, it was quite terribly clear, even to a child. She had heard stories about the peoples of the world like Orcs, Minotaurs and Pechs\*, but nothing like Him.

"No sir, there isn't. Not for some time now." she said, respectfully. She might not know exactly what or who He was, but He talked in a way that made him seem important.

"Tut-tut," He shook his head. Dead grass fell from it. "That is most unfortunate. You see little girl, I ... *live* in this forest here, and I would be very ... *unhappy* if it up and died."

Jasmine didn't like the way He stressed some of His words. Not one bit.

"Sorry sir, but I must be getting back to my mother. She isn't well you see." Jasmine explained. She gave another clumsy curtsy, and turned around to leave.

But He was in front of her. Jasmine jumped, and took a step back. Was He magic?

"Now, now this won't take long Jasmine," She had never told Him her name. "I want what you want, and that is the water back. I know how to do that, but I need you to help me." He whispered. Jasmine liked to help people. Everyone always had said Thank you Jasmine, or That's very kind of you Jasmine. That was before. Now whenever she tried, people swore at her, told her to do bad things to herself. Those who weren't sane enough to swear tried to bite her, or drool on her, or sing scary songs to her. She liked the way things were before.

"I can see that you wish to help, dear Jasmine," He said. "In order to do that, I need you to get some things for me." He crouched down to get eye level with her. Those deep, dark eyes right in her face. He frightened Jasmine. "First, I need a bone from the old well-keeper."

Jasmine nodded in acquiescence, and ran off to the burnt remains of his old house. She had to make sure to avoid the gangs. They had become very scary, even though she knew each of them by name. She crept over to the withered old oak tree where the townspeople had lynched him. He had fallen a  long time ago, and bits of him were carried away by hungry dogs. She stuck her hand into his frayed shirt, and pulled. There was a crack. Jasmine's tummy didn't feel good after it. She lifted her hand, and looked at the arm bone she had just twisted out of its not-entirely-decayed socket.

"Very good, young Jasmine." He whispered when she returned. He took the arm, and set it down onto a big boulder. "Next, I need your father's knife." He whispered into her ear.

Uh oh. This was going to be tricky. Her father never let that knife out of his sight, and he uses it to carve mice and clocks into the walls of his room. She told Him such, and He grinned His not-grin again. "That's ok," he whispered. "I can give you some help." He reached over His shoulder, and plucked a little red flower from His back. He tossed it onto the dry earth.

The little red flower landed on its stem, bolt upright. It grew, getting bigger and bigger. Thicker and thicker. Its petals got fleshy. Its seeds fell into itself, and a long black tongue poked out. The flower turned to Jasmine and hissed. "This is Treefyd\*\*," He whispered. "He will help you." Treefyd chirped in agreement. It wasn't a nice chirp, like a songbird. More like a songbird whose neck was just broken.

Jasmine led Treefyd to her house, and let him in. She led him to her father's room, and cautiously opened the door. He was kneeling on the floor, face against the wall. "Hickory dickory dock, the mouse went up the clock..." he slurred. His mouth was foaming again. His saliva was thick from dehydration, like mud. Treefyd went over to him. The knife was clenched painfully hard in his left hand. Treefyd's tongue poked out again, and went up Jasmine's father's nose.

His song cut of abruptly. He coughed quietly. The knife dropped. Jasmine rushed to grab it, and ran back outside. Treefyd followed shortly. Jasmine turned to the flower. "You didn't hurt him did you?" Jasmine asked.

Treefyd just chirped.

Jasmine and Treefyd hurried back to Him. "Good, good, good." He whispered. He took the knife, and Treefyd turned to dust. "Next, your neighbor's cow."

She led it away with some wheat from His back.

When Jasmine arrived with the cow, He crooked His head to the right. It seemed like it turned too much. "You've done splendidly Jasmine, but this next one is tricky. I need to know that you trust me *completely*. You must be honest."

This unnerved Jasmine. What could He possibly want now? But He frightened Jasmine too much, so she shook her head. He said be honest.

He just stood there for a time, staring at her. "I thought as much." He whispered. This time, instead of sounding like a breeze through the leafs, He was a gust of cold air before a winter storm. He lifted His branchy hand, and gently touched her forehead.

~~~~~

Jasmine felt so ... *chipper*. Yes, that was the word, chipper. She was helping to save the town! Soon, there would be water again. She skipped down the road back to her home, loving life. She said good morning to the lunatics who were her neighbors. Some shouted, some cried, some giggled, some remained silent. On Jasmine skipped. Her forehead was a little *itchy*, but it didn't bother her. She had a task to do. One last thing, He had said, and then He could bring the water back.

She started to whistle while she skipped. It was a merry little tune her mother had taught her. Mother! Oh yes, Jasmine thought, Mother is going to help too! Jasmine arrived at her house. She unlocked the door, hopped up the stairs, and went to Mother's room. The door to there was through Father's room.

*Skip, skip, skip. Jasmine almost tripped over Father's body. Oopsie!*

She opened the door to Mother's room. She was lying there, just as she had been. Poor, poor Mother. She felt so bad. Maybe if I tell her that I'm going to save the town, Jasmine thought, she will feel better! Jasmine poked Mother's shoulder. This brought on a fit of coughing. She turned over, and faced Jasmine.

"Y-yes Jas-Jasmine? What is i-it?" she managed out.

"Hello Mother! I just wanted to tell you that I found a way to save the town, and you get to help too! Isn't that wonderful?"

She didn't answer. She had started coughing again. Jasmine waited. It takes patience to save the town, she thought.

"Jasmine de-ar, there is no saving this t-town without the wa-water." Mother managed out. Jasmine giggled.

"That's why we're bringing it back, silly! Now, The Green Man just needs one thing from you." Jasmine giggled. Mother's eyes widened in fear. *Perfect*!

"Jasmine? Have you m-met The Green Man?! No, n-no you mustn't -" Jasmine didn't let her finish, because she took the sharp branch that He had given her and borrowed Mother's eye. "Sorry Mother, I'll give it back later!"Jasmine said with a smile. Mother was yelling. Probably because she was so happy with Jasmine for being so clever; saving the town, bringing the water back and all that.

Jasmine quickly added "Bye-bye Mother!" and skipped all the way back to Him. When she arrived, hands all covered in jam from Mother's eye (How odd, thought Jasmine. I never knew Mother was made of jam!), He seemed so pleased. "Good work, little Jasmine! Now give it here." She handed Him the eye with a smile. "We'll give it back later, right sir?"

"Yes, yes, of course dear one." He whispered. "Now go clean your hands, and then I have a gift for you." So when Jasmine returned, licking her fingers clean of all that tasty jam, He touched her itchy forehead again.

~~~~~

When He touched her forehead, she pulled away. "What did you touch me for?" she asked, indignantly. He tossed away the little leaf He held and turned back to Jasmine. He crooked His head to the side again. "Oh, no reason." He whispered, looking down at the thing He was holding suddenly. Jasmine pursed her lips in frustration, and noticed a strange taste in her mouth, like she had swallowed a Copper.

"Now, we are ready to begin." He said. Jasmine was confused. "What about that last thing you needed me to get? The thing that you said that I needed to -"

Then He was in front of her face, dark eyes right up close. "***SILENCE, INSOLENT CHILD!***" He shouted. This was a hurricane through the whole wilderness. Jasmine was quiet. He rose, nodded curtly, and strode over to the cow. He spun on His heal, and gestured for Jasmine to come forward. She did.

"Now, I want you to gut this cow." Jasmine looked at Him in horror. Yes, she had helped Father with this sort of thing before, but those were chickens! He seemed to notice her apprehension. "If you don't, there will be no water..." He teased, back to His whispering voice. Jasmine mulled it over for a few moments, and took her father's knife. She held her breath, closed her eyes, and gutted Gertrude. She fell over, bellowed in pain, and died. The scent of copper filled the air. Hang on, thought Jasmine.

Before she could continue her thought, He bent over, and reached inside of Gertrude's body. Jasmine felt sick. There was a horrible squishing sound, and He rose back up. He held in His hand, the cow's heart. He took the arm bone from the old well-keeper and set it on the ground. He squished the heart, and a strange white orb with a brown spot (perhaps a bird's egg? thought Jasmine) into the Bone. It was stained a disgusting whitish-red. It turned to face back towards the town, of its own accord. "Follow this, and when it hums, strike it into the earth. I have helped you, and someday, I will require something ... *special* of you."

Jasmine tore her eyes away from the quivering bone, only to find herself alone. She was frightened, more frightened than she had ever been in her life, but she lifted the bone. It *was* being pulled somewhere. She followed it. It led her straight through town, and into the beginnings of a sinkhole, just south of the village. There, in the center it made a humming noise. Jasmine heaved, with all of her strength, and slammed it into the ground. Water, glorious, fresh, clean, beautiful water sprayed forth without end.

~~~~~

And so it was that Jasmine saved the town of Mandra. If one was to explain how she screamed for a night and a day about her dead parents, or how the forest grew much larger that year, or how when Jasmine was an adult she slipped on a few moist leaves and drowned in the new spring-fed lake she had helped to create, well, that would be poor story-telling wouldn't it?

~~~~~

Copyright 2015 H.Quinn

* \*Pech is a mob from the Thaumcraft Mod.
* \*\*Treefyd is a mob from the Witchery Mod.