Day 422

The lightning-burnt branches of the dead tree looked like two hands coming together in prayer.
It really stood out against the fields of green grass and short bushes marking the fields apart.
People tended to avoid the area, everyone thought it belonged to someone or was cursed.
Still legend persisted.

It's been said that crawling under the Praying Tree could cure anything.
You had to crawl clockwise - inside, turn right, inside, turn left - seven times.
There were rumours, everyone knew someone who'd been cured.
But like most "cures" it had unfortunate side effects.

Few people are willing to acknowledge them, too focused on praising the Praying Tree.
They don't want to remember what was given to obtain the cure.
This isn't the Giving Tree, it demands something in return.
Those who give nothing lose everything, lose their lives.

No proof of this exists of course, its just a legend after all.
Still doesn't explain the occasional corpse found with their hands tied with roots in prayer.
They're generally terminal patients that vanish from home or hospital.
Their relatives will deny everything to the law but get them liqueured up enough and they sing.

Its the same old story, they have nothing to give, the Praying Tree asked for too much.
A life for a life - that's its deal, always has been.
Some are more than willing to give a name or names, others are too kind or too slow.
Time is precious, even to the Praying Tree.

How do I fit in with all this?
I watch it all, hidden in the long grasses I'm never spotted.
I've seen just about everyone in the local village make deals with the Preying Tree.
And now they're all giving it my name.