At home , he held Marjorie tight . She chuckled as she squeezed him back . " Oh ! You ' re just adding to my crazy day ," she chuckled .
" What do you mean ?" " She waved her hand . " You ' ll just tell me I ' m nuts ." Pete ' s guts turned to water . " What ?"
" Well . Seems like we have a new tree in the back yard . Just appeared out of nowhere !"
Pete grasped her shoulders tight . " Two trunks growing together ?" " Yes ! How did you …?"
He marched into the closet and pulled out suitcases . " Pack your bags . We have to leave ."
" Pete ? You ' re scaring me ." " JUST … Honey , just pack now , please ."
" Okay ." She ' d never seen him like this , but could sense an emergency when she saw it . " Where are we going ?"
" The desert ." " But why ?" " Trees don ' t grow there ."
Winter 2014 25
E.A. Wicklund currently resides in
Austin, TX with his wife, Sherry. His hobbies include hiking, photography, and sampling as many exotic micro-brews as he can find. He writes what he reads: Science Fiction, Urban
Fantasy, and the occasional Horror
story or spy novel novel. When not watching the latest CGI extravaganza movie with his wife, he's writing stories for various writing challenges. Typically, his stories are humorous, but dark moments sometimes slip in. To date, he's written nearly 400 flash fiction stories on his blog, Momus News.