Gabby (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ladyoflorien) wrote2003-12-24 11:39 pm
ladyoflorien) wrote2003-12-24 11:39 pm
Fanfic: The Tree Whisperer
The Tree Whisperer
by Gabby
approx. 7 pages
Genre: Comedy with a hint of Fantasy
Rating: PG
Characters: Dom and Billy
Notes: I find the best way to read this fic is to imagine you're reading a transcript of Dom and Billy doing cast commentary. ;) Also, you have to be familiar with this past Dom article.
Summary: There's magic in the trees.
The Tree Whisperer
- By Gabby -
_
The stout SUV pulled in along the rows of sweet-smelling trees with little difficulty, cutting deep ruts in the soft ground before stopping a few yards in among the long files of trees. The two occupants who had driven the rental car all the way from the airport in Bangalore opened their car doors and stepped out onto the ductile foreign earth in Karnataka, India, thousands of miles from their respective homes. The driver leaned upon the door he had just opened and smiled at the sight through his dark sunglasses. His passenger emerged, still frowning at the map he held in his hands, and prodded his companion once more in his thick Scottish accent, "How do you know this plot is yours? It doesn't say here who owns what."
The driver frowned and removed his sunglasses to squint at the paper his friend held out to him. "Because on the certificate I got after purchasing the trees it told me which lot was mine," he answered in an equally thick yet muddled accent, reaching out and taking the map so he could examine it.
"I don't remember seeing that," the Scotsman answered dubiously, arching an eyebrow at his companion. "Aside from that I don't see any lot numbers, so I don't know how you're keeping yourself from getting completely lost. You don't have the best sense of direction, you know," he pointed out.
"Billy," the other man sighed, looking up from his map: "Let's just say for the benefit of the doubt that this is my forest, all right? Honestly, are you determined to ruin this experience for me?"
"If it be at all possible Dom, then yes," Billy grinned in return.
"Oh, it's possible all right," Dom chuckled, folding up the map in his hands and tossing it at his friend's face; "and you're well on your way, I can tell you that right now!"
Billy laughed and deflected the blow, letting the folded piece of paper flitter to the muddy ground below and rest there momentarily. Dom shut his door and took a few steps forward, chiding Billy for 'littering in his forest' before Billy reminded Dom that he was the one who had thrown the map at him in the first place. He bent down and picked up the soiled paper, throwing it in the rental car before grabbing his sunglasses and shutting his door, following his friend into the lines of trees.
Dom paused and turned towards him, raising his chin high in the air and taking in a very deep breath. The trees smelled sweet and fresh, and the air was very cool and pleasant to stand in. "Welcome to my forest, Bill. You're the very first person to see it with me."
Billy nodded appraisingly as Dom turned in circles, gazing at the heavily leafed boughs standing tall in numerous straight lines. He took in a breath and pocketed his hands, rocking back on his heels. "Yes, here we are--in southern India--with your trees..." Billy sniffed, speaking with an air of indifference. Dom glanced over at him, arching an eyebrow. "They're very lovely trees," Billy added, a note of playful sarcasm in his voice.
Dom tipped his head to the side; "They are lovely trees," he answered, mimicking the cool indifference on his friends face.
Billy once again glanced about appraisingly; "Indeed they are," he said, coolly meeting his friend's eyes. "Well, not as pretty as some, I mean. Treebeard, for instance," he added, expectantly awaiting his friend's reaction.
Dom couldn't help but grin at those words. "Treebeard isn't a tree, he's an Ent," he answered defiantly.
Billy grinned back at his friend. "And what exactly is an Ent?"
Dom opened his mouth to answer but stopped himself short, realizing the trap Billy was trying to set. "An Ent is an Ent," he answered finally, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.
"Which is basically a walking tree, right?" Billy countered.
"No," Dom snapped back defensively, trying to hide his now growing smile. He shook his head at his friend; "Richard would be heartbroken if he could hear the way you're talking about his beloved Treebeard right now," he said teasingly, referring to their friend Richard Taylor, the head of WETA Workshops in New Zealand.
Billy's face lightened and he suddenly changed subjects on Dom, as he was often accustomed to doing. "Oh, speaking of Treebeard, wouldn't he make a right nice monument for your forest 'ere?" he said, gesturing to the files of trees about them.
Dom laughed merrily, nodding his head in jaunty rapid movements; "Aye, we could put him right in the middle here--" he then moved his hands in a wide comical gesture towards the ground in the middle of the lot of trees, "--Maybe even put a plaque at his feet saying how he's the shepherd of the mango trees 'ere," he laughed, glancing up and smiling at Billy. "You think Richard would let me have him?"
Billy laughed outright; "Not a chance in the world!" he said, chuckling. "You know how Richard fancies his work, Treebeard most importantly. You know I heard they pulled him out of storage last month for their Christmas party, and dressed him up like a real Christmas tree and put him in the middle of the office. I think he's still there, actually," Billy chuckled as Dom laughed away at the news.
"That doesn't surprise me a bit," Dom commented after a while, staring back out on his forest of mango trees. "Maybe I could get him to make me another Treebeard, then. Or maybe even Bilbo's trolls--how fantastic would that be?" he exclaimed, turning to Billy with flashing eyes.
Billy chuckled, imagining it in his mind. "That would be pure dead brilliant," Billy nodded. "You could set them at the opening as a sort of warning; like the troll with his finger stretched out you could put up a sign that says 'You must be This Tall to enter Dom's Forest – Sorry Peter! Go back to New Zealand!' or something to that effect, and then charge admission," Billy joked.
Dom laughed again, shaking his head at the idea: leave it to Billy to come up with something so incredibly daft. Though, now that he thought about it, it did seem like a rather exciting thing to do. He wondered if he could somehow convince Future Forests to let him do it. He let his eyes rove about, taking in each corner and angle of every tree, and smiled to himself as a gust of wind rattled the leaves and ruffled his hair. "I like my forest," he commented after a while to no one in particular. "I think it's quite a lovely thing, saying that this is mine," he added, walking up to a healthy looking tree and reaching a hand out to its trunk. He gently ran the palm of his hands over the rough bark, as though he were lovingly stroking the coat of a gentle animal, taking in the scent of sweet fruit in a deep cleansing breath.
Billy stood beside him and watched in fascination as Dom admired the leafy green trees. At length he spoke; "I know you like Mother Nature and the environment and all, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone so fascinated by a tree before." He chuckled softly, bringing to mind an argument they had gotten into over why his friend had penned "Trees" on the back of his hand at one particular movie gala and proudly flashed the sign to any camera pointed his way for the duration of the night. It was a fixation Billy had humorously challenged, but nevertheless he still didn't quite grasp the meaning of it.
Dom simply shrugged, still admiring the tree in front of him. "I like trees," he said plainly, fingering a leaf in his left hand. "And you are a very lovely tree, aren't you?" he asked the waxy green foliage, much to Billy's amusement.
"Are you expecting an answer?"
"You never know," Dom laughed.
Billy lowered his voice to a whisper and took on a familiar accent: "Don't talk to it; don't encourage it!" he hissed, and then erupted into a gale of soft whimsical laughter when his friend turned to him and chuckled in gleeful delight.
"Ah, I really do wish Richard would let me have Treebeard," Dom grinned wistfully, thinking back to the many months he had spent in the company of the giant mechanical personality and the best friend he had acquired through the experience who now stood beside him. "He really would be a perfect touch to this quiet grove."
"Aye," Billy nodded, fingering a waxen leaf as Dom had done earlier, wondering at what the short Brit had felt in his heart as he touched something that seemed for some reason so dear to him. "Perhaps he could even show you the proper way to address your trees," he added in all seriousness, glancing at his friend.
Dom smiled warmly and took on a very proud air then. "I do not need any help talking to my trees, thank you very much. I shall address them however I please," he answered, nodding his head impudently at Billy.
"Well you never much learned how to deal with Treebeard, if my memory serves," the older man pointed out in defiance, his thick Scottish accent rolling cheekily from his tongue.
"Treebeard isn't a tree," Dom countered again, amused by this tangled argument.
"Excuse me," Billy exclaimed, brows arched high on his forehead; "I spent enough time riding on his shoulders to think I have a pretty good idea of what he is and is not. I think there's still a branchy imprint on my arse from where I sat all those days."
Dom laughed loudly at the thought as he watched his friend turn to examine his rear. "Aye, I still wake up some mornings with a sore bum," Dom added, shaking his head. "I tell people it's an old war injury, from the 'Great War,' and it's grand watching the expressions on their faces." The two friends laughed jovially, contented with thoughtless drabble and fun, empty, unimportant conversation. Through most of the long hours of filming it had been the only thing that kept them from going stark raving mad.
"Then you tell them it's from a tree," Billy stated, a wide smile on his face. Dom nodded.
"I quite literally had a stick up my ass," he added, and the two laughed anew. "I think Treebeard fancied Hobbits, you know."
Billy nodded solemnly, but couldn't keep the grin from his face. "He was quite feisty for being thousands of years old, wasn't he?" But it wasn't really a question.
Dom randomly pulled up an old line from his memory, and recited it just as it had been spoken in the movie. "A tree-herder--a shepherd of the forest!"
Billy nodded in thought. "A 'Tree Whisperer'," he added after a time, and Dom bent over his thighs, laughing so hard he nearly lost his balance. Billy joined his friend in his hysterics, for the first time truly considering the absurdity of the statement.
After a moment Dom calmed himself and stood straight again, but tears were shining in his bright eyes. "Take that, Robert Redford!" Dom began, barely containing his giggles; "Our movie kicks your movie's arse!" He added oomph to that statement by shaking his fist violently in the air.
Billy grabbed his stomach, nearly collapsing on the muddy ground with laughter, as once again Dom depended on his thighs to keep him from falling over. The laughter rang loudly in the boughs and branches of the trees surrounding them, and it caused a warmth in their sides and a tight spasm in their stomachs. At length they calmed themselves, though barely able to glance at each other without laughing anew, and wiped the moisture from their eyes.
"'The Tree Whisperer,'" Dom repeated, hoarsely chuckling as the words met his ears again. "I like that. I think Peter could make a spin-off movie on Treebeard and the Hurons and how they first started talking, and name it that."
Billy nodded his head gaily. "I'd go see it," he said. The two discussed the possibilities of such a project for a while longer, throwing idea after idea at each other and merrily agreeing that they should bring them before Peter Jackson someday, until the joke was spent and they once again fell into calm conversation. They spent much of the afternoon that way, walking along the muddy paths between rows of tall trees, laughing and conversing and enjoying one another's company. There was a pause in conversation where Dom thought back to their cheery discussion, and he considered it quite seriously for a moment.
"You know," he began while gazing up at the lush trees and walking casually by the side of his friend; "I've always wondered quite seriously if trees could talk among themselves in some way. It seemed always such a happy thought when I was a kid, that nature could somehow communicate with itself, and when I read 'Lord of the Rings' for the first time it was fascinating to see the way Tolkien thought of such things."
Billy nodded quietly, thinking over Dom's statement seriously in his mind. "There were many tales in Scotland when I was a boy about the nature of fairies, that they live in the trees and forests, and as a child I believed it; there are many people who still do, they honestly believe that fairies are real. And I remember as a boy I would go out and sit very quietly by the trunks of trees, because it was said that if you stayed very still and very quiet after a while you might hear the songs of the fairies in the wind, or see a quick glimpse of one scurrying through the wood. And I would sit out there sometimes for hours and just listen and wait. After a while every time the wind blew I fancied it was the trees talking with soft fairy voices," he laughed, thinking back on the experience from his youth. "But I never quite knew," he continued, his reflective face lost in deep memories; "whether or not the trees were really moving and talking, or if it was just my imagination."
Dom had listened very attentively the whole time Billy spoke, and now he glanced over at his friend and gave him a very thoughtful gaze. "Do you believe the stories? That fairies really exist?" he asked in all seriousness.
Billy glanced over at him, taking in his thoughtful features, and considered it a moment. "I think it's a mighty fanciful idea," he smiled after a time. "There's lots of jolly stories about them, how they still dwell in one or two of their favorite spots in Scotland, and spend their time performing many a good turn to those who are considered to be among their friends. A lot of stories speak of the King of the Fairies, and how he always held many merry revels when the moon shone clearly over the summit of Dunmyat, dancing in the moonbeams and playing their funny games beside the Wharry Burn. One of my favorites is a fairy called Red Cap, who was always the first to arrive when the King summoned them to a midnight frolic," Billy laughed again at the old story. "Red Cap was sort of the leader of their dances, races, and exploits. Many queer tales could be told about Red Cap and his friends, for they often left behind them traces of their merry doings."
Dom's face lit up with mischievous delight at that statement. "Well no wonder he's your favorite, he sounds to be just like you, Bill," Dom chuckled.
Billy tipped his head forward in amusement; he should have expected Dom would say something like that. "Right, I know," he grinned, playing along. "Especially the part about being a wee little merry man."
Dom grinned all the wider. "Well you've got the same stature at least," he teased devilishly, cuffing his friend's shoulder. Billy laughed and agreed with him, and their conversation once again turned jovial and mocking.
"At least I'm not a Tree Whisperer," Billy snorted.
Dom coughed suddenly and broke into a fit of loud laughs again at the reminder. "You never know, one day there might be a calling for such a profession."
"Well at least you have a backup plan for when your acting career fizzles out. You know, I didn't want to tell you so but I don't think you have much of a future in acting," he shook his head sadly. "Most of the other lads agree with me. 'Ah, that poor Dom, he thinks he can act and Peter's just getting more and more frustrated with every scene he botches up,' they'd say. I tried defending you, you know, since we were supposed to be such bosom friends, but there wasn't much I could say in your defense."
"Shove off!" Dom exclaimed, a shocked grin sprawled across his features. He pushed his friend playfully and Billy stumbled off to the side, laughing as he brought his arms up in a defensive gesture. Dom shook his head and looked away from him, feigning fury. "Now I'm getting counseled on my acting skills from the man who most of the crew knew as Bill 'The Girly Screamer' after your little episode with the fireworks!"
Billy looked appropriately aghast and stared down Dom's insolence with smiling eyes. "That wasn't my fault!" he exclaimed, his words barely distinguishable through his laughter. "I was surprised!" he added. Dom laughed outright, tilting his chin into the air as his laughter shook deep in his chest.
"Aye, you were surprised," he agreed, nodding his head. "And you scream like a girl."
"At least I don't smell like horse shite," Billy pointed out.
Dom's eyes widened considerably. "You know very well I had nothing to do with that!" he protested amidst Billy's laughter. His expression turned dark and he shook his head angrily. "Damn Viggo, I'll get him back for that yet."
The two continued on, laughing and chatting as the sun began to set below the groves of trees, turning the sky orange and gold, for they had been walking among Dom's trees for several hours now and evening was beginning to fall. Billy commented that they should probably think about heading on back to the city to find their hotel and get a bite for dinner, and Dom agreed. They walked back to the rental car in a calm and silence, taking in the last sights and smells of the mango trees in the cool airy evening. They stopped for a moment to admire the sky as the sun set, peeking through the leaves of the trees as a bright disk of brilliant mandarin orange, and all the many details of the brilliant towering tree was outlined as if by a golden pen. Suddenly it seemed to the two as they looked upon the blinding sphere of gold that there was a quick flash of red and the stirring of many leaves as though something hurried past, and in the wind they heard a soft clamoring, as if by a chirruping bird or the gay laughter of a very small voice.
Slowly Dom and Billy turned towards one another and looked at each other with wide, surprised faces. They simply stared a moment, knowing they need not bother asking whether the other person had seen what they had seen, for it was evident on their drawn faces that they both had very much witnessed the same thing. Instead they simply just blinked at each other, absorbing the occurrence, and smiled within themselves in quiet knowledge.
"Let's go eat," Dom said with a merry smile, and with that the two turned their backs on the wooded area and started again for the car. But once inside and again on their way they couldn't help but think back to the ample lovely trees and the magic embedded deep in their roots, and deep in their hearts.
The End.
This has been a Gabby Co production... No, I'm kidding. lol. Feedback would be greatly appreciated!
*gestures to the "Post a new comment" button*
by Gabby
approx. 7 pages
Genre: Comedy with a hint of Fantasy
Rating: PG
Characters: Dom and Billy
Notes: I find the best way to read this fic is to imagine you're reading a transcript of Dom and Billy doing cast commentary. ;) Also, you have to be familiar with this past Dom article.
Summary: There's magic in the trees.
- By Gabby -
_
The stout SUV pulled in along the rows of sweet-smelling trees with little difficulty, cutting deep ruts in the soft ground before stopping a few yards in among the long files of trees. The two occupants who had driven the rental car all the way from the airport in Bangalore opened their car doors and stepped out onto the ductile foreign earth in Karnataka, India, thousands of miles from their respective homes. The driver leaned upon the door he had just opened and smiled at the sight through his dark sunglasses. His passenger emerged, still frowning at the map he held in his hands, and prodded his companion once more in his thick Scottish accent, "How do you know this plot is yours? It doesn't say here who owns what."
The driver frowned and removed his sunglasses to squint at the paper his friend held out to him. "Because on the certificate I got after purchasing the trees it told me which lot was mine," he answered in an equally thick yet muddled accent, reaching out and taking the map so he could examine it.
"I don't remember seeing that," the Scotsman answered dubiously, arching an eyebrow at his companion. "Aside from that I don't see any lot numbers, so I don't know how you're keeping yourself from getting completely lost. You don't have the best sense of direction, you know," he pointed out.
"Billy," the other man sighed, looking up from his map: "Let's just say for the benefit of the doubt that this is my forest, all right? Honestly, are you determined to ruin this experience for me?"
"If it be at all possible Dom, then yes," Billy grinned in return.
"Oh, it's possible all right," Dom chuckled, folding up the map in his hands and tossing it at his friend's face; "and you're well on your way, I can tell you that right now!"
Billy laughed and deflected the blow, letting the folded piece of paper flitter to the muddy ground below and rest there momentarily. Dom shut his door and took a few steps forward, chiding Billy for 'littering in his forest' before Billy reminded Dom that he was the one who had thrown the map at him in the first place. He bent down and picked up the soiled paper, throwing it in the rental car before grabbing his sunglasses and shutting his door, following his friend into the lines of trees.
Dom paused and turned towards him, raising his chin high in the air and taking in a very deep breath. The trees smelled sweet and fresh, and the air was very cool and pleasant to stand in. "Welcome to my forest, Bill. You're the very first person to see it with me."
Billy nodded appraisingly as Dom turned in circles, gazing at the heavily leafed boughs standing tall in numerous straight lines. He took in a breath and pocketed his hands, rocking back on his heels. "Yes, here we are--in southern India--with your trees..." Billy sniffed, speaking with an air of indifference. Dom glanced over at him, arching an eyebrow. "They're very lovely trees," Billy added, a note of playful sarcasm in his voice.
Dom tipped his head to the side; "They are lovely trees," he answered, mimicking the cool indifference on his friends face.
Billy once again glanced about appraisingly; "Indeed they are," he said, coolly meeting his friend's eyes. "Well, not as pretty as some, I mean. Treebeard, for instance," he added, expectantly awaiting his friend's reaction.
Dom couldn't help but grin at those words. "Treebeard isn't a tree, he's an Ent," he answered defiantly.
Billy grinned back at his friend. "And what exactly is an Ent?"
Dom opened his mouth to answer but stopped himself short, realizing the trap Billy was trying to set. "An Ent is an Ent," he answered finally, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.
"Which is basically a walking tree, right?" Billy countered.
"No," Dom snapped back defensively, trying to hide his now growing smile. He shook his head at his friend; "Richard would be heartbroken if he could hear the way you're talking about his beloved Treebeard right now," he said teasingly, referring to their friend Richard Taylor, the head of WETA Workshops in New Zealand.
Billy's face lightened and he suddenly changed subjects on Dom, as he was often accustomed to doing. "Oh, speaking of Treebeard, wouldn't he make a right nice monument for your forest 'ere?" he said, gesturing to the files of trees about them.
Dom laughed merrily, nodding his head in jaunty rapid movements; "Aye, we could put him right in the middle here--" he then moved his hands in a wide comical gesture towards the ground in the middle of the lot of trees, "--Maybe even put a plaque at his feet saying how he's the shepherd of the mango trees 'ere," he laughed, glancing up and smiling at Billy. "You think Richard would let me have him?"
Billy laughed outright; "Not a chance in the world!" he said, chuckling. "You know how Richard fancies his work, Treebeard most importantly. You know I heard they pulled him out of storage last month for their Christmas party, and dressed him up like a real Christmas tree and put him in the middle of the office. I think he's still there, actually," Billy chuckled as Dom laughed away at the news.
"That doesn't surprise me a bit," Dom commented after a while, staring back out on his forest of mango trees. "Maybe I could get him to make me another Treebeard, then. Or maybe even Bilbo's trolls--how fantastic would that be?" he exclaimed, turning to Billy with flashing eyes.
Billy chuckled, imagining it in his mind. "That would be pure dead brilliant," Billy nodded. "You could set them at the opening as a sort of warning; like the troll with his finger stretched out you could put up a sign that says 'You must be This Tall to enter Dom's Forest – Sorry Peter! Go back to New Zealand!' or something to that effect, and then charge admission," Billy joked.
Dom laughed again, shaking his head at the idea: leave it to Billy to come up with something so incredibly daft. Though, now that he thought about it, it did seem like a rather exciting thing to do. He wondered if he could somehow convince Future Forests to let him do it. He let his eyes rove about, taking in each corner and angle of every tree, and smiled to himself as a gust of wind rattled the leaves and ruffled his hair. "I like my forest," he commented after a while to no one in particular. "I think it's quite a lovely thing, saying that this is mine," he added, walking up to a healthy looking tree and reaching a hand out to its trunk. He gently ran the palm of his hands over the rough bark, as though he were lovingly stroking the coat of a gentle animal, taking in the scent of sweet fruit in a deep cleansing breath.
Billy stood beside him and watched in fascination as Dom admired the leafy green trees. At length he spoke; "I know you like Mother Nature and the environment and all, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone so fascinated by a tree before." He chuckled softly, bringing to mind an argument they had gotten into over why his friend had penned "Trees" on the back of his hand at one particular movie gala and proudly flashed the sign to any camera pointed his way for the duration of the night. It was a fixation Billy had humorously challenged, but nevertheless he still didn't quite grasp the meaning of it.
Dom simply shrugged, still admiring the tree in front of him. "I like trees," he said plainly, fingering a leaf in his left hand. "And you are a very lovely tree, aren't you?" he asked the waxy green foliage, much to Billy's amusement.
"Are you expecting an answer?"
"You never know," Dom laughed.
Billy lowered his voice to a whisper and took on a familiar accent: "Don't talk to it; don't encourage it!" he hissed, and then erupted into a gale of soft whimsical laughter when his friend turned to him and chuckled in gleeful delight.
"Ah, I really do wish Richard would let me have Treebeard," Dom grinned wistfully, thinking back to the many months he had spent in the company of the giant mechanical personality and the best friend he had acquired through the experience who now stood beside him. "He really would be a perfect touch to this quiet grove."
"Aye," Billy nodded, fingering a waxen leaf as Dom had done earlier, wondering at what the short Brit had felt in his heart as he touched something that seemed for some reason so dear to him. "Perhaps he could even show you the proper way to address your trees," he added in all seriousness, glancing at his friend.
Dom smiled warmly and took on a very proud air then. "I do not need any help talking to my trees, thank you very much. I shall address them however I please," he answered, nodding his head impudently at Billy.
"Well you never much learned how to deal with Treebeard, if my memory serves," the older man pointed out in defiance, his thick Scottish accent rolling cheekily from his tongue.
"Treebeard isn't a tree," Dom countered again, amused by this tangled argument.
"Excuse me," Billy exclaimed, brows arched high on his forehead; "I spent enough time riding on his shoulders to think I have a pretty good idea of what he is and is not. I think there's still a branchy imprint on my arse from where I sat all those days."
Dom laughed loudly at the thought as he watched his friend turn to examine his rear. "Aye, I still wake up some mornings with a sore bum," Dom added, shaking his head. "I tell people it's an old war injury, from the 'Great War,' and it's grand watching the expressions on their faces." The two friends laughed jovially, contented with thoughtless drabble and fun, empty, unimportant conversation. Through most of the long hours of filming it had been the only thing that kept them from going stark raving mad.
"Then you tell them it's from a tree," Billy stated, a wide smile on his face. Dom nodded.
"I quite literally had a stick up my ass," he added, and the two laughed anew. "I think Treebeard fancied Hobbits, you know."
Billy nodded solemnly, but couldn't keep the grin from his face. "He was quite feisty for being thousands of years old, wasn't he?" But it wasn't really a question.
Dom randomly pulled up an old line from his memory, and recited it just as it had been spoken in the movie. "A tree-herder--a shepherd of the forest!"
Billy nodded in thought. "A 'Tree Whisperer'," he added after a time, and Dom bent over his thighs, laughing so hard he nearly lost his balance. Billy joined his friend in his hysterics, for the first time truly considering the absurdity of the statement.
After a moment Dom calmed himself and stood straight again, but tears were shining in his bright eyes. "Take that, Robert Redford!" Dom began, barely containing his giggles; "Our movie kicks your movie's arse!" He added oomph to that statement by shaking his fist violently in the air.
Billy grabbed his stomach, nearly collapsing on the muddy ground with laughter, as once again Dom depended on his thighs to keep him from falling over. The laughter rang loudly in the boughs and branches of the trees surrounding them, and it caused a warmth in their sides and a tight spasm in their stomachs. At length they calmed themselves, though barely able to glance at each other without laughing anew, and wiped the moisture from their eyes.
"'The Tree Whisperer,'" Dom repeated, hoarsely chuckling as the words met his ears again. "I like that. I think Peter could make a spin-off movie on Treebeard and the Hurons and how they first started talking, and name it that."
Billy nodded his head gaily. "I'd go see it," he said. The two discussed the possibilities of such a project for a while longer, throwing idea after idea at each other and merrily agreeing that they should bring them before Peter Jackson someday, until the joke was spent and they once again fell into calm conversation. They spent much of the afternoon that way, walking along the muddy paths between rows of tall trees, laughing and conversing and enjoying one another's company. There was a pause in conversation where Dom thought back to their cheery discussion, and he considered it quite seriously for a moment.
"You know," he began while gazing up at the lush trees and walking casually by the side of his friend; "I've always wondered quite seriously if trees could talk among themselves in some way. It seemed always such a happy thought when I was a kid, that nature could somehow communicate with itself, and when I read 'Lord of the Rings' for the first time it was fascinating to see the way Tolkien thought of such things."
Billy nodded quietly, thinking over Dom's statement seriously in his mind. "There were many tales in Scotland when I was a boy about the nature of fairies, that they live in the trees and forests, and as a child I believed it; there are many people who still do, they honestly believe that fairies are real. And I remember as a boy I would go out and sit very quietly by the trunks of trees, because it was said that if you stayed very still and very quiet after a while you might hear the songs of the fairies in the wind, or see a quick glimpse of one scurrying through the wood. And I would sit out there sometimes for hours and just listen and wait. After a while every time the wind blew I fancied it was the trees talking with soft fairy voices," he laughed, thinking back on the experience from his youth. "But I never quite knew," he continued, his reflective face lost in deep memories; "whether or not the trees were really moving and talking, or if it was just my imagination."
Dom had listened very attentively the whole time Billy spoke, and now he glanced over at his friend and gave him a very thoughtful gaze. "Do you believe the stories? That fairies really exist?" he asked in all seriousness.
Billy glanced over at him, taking in his thoughtful features, and considered it a moment. "I think it's a mighty fanciful idea," he smiled after a time. "There's lots of jolly stories about them, how they still dwell in one or two of their favorite spots in Scotland, and spend their time performing many a good turn to those who are considered to be among their friends. A lot of stories speak of the King of the Fairies, and how he always held many merry revels when the moon shone clearly over the summit of Dunmyat, dancing in the moonbeams and playing their funny games beside the Wharry Burn. One of my favorites is a fairy called Red Cap, who was always the first to arrive when the King summoned them to a midnight frolic," Billy laughed again at the old story. "Red Cap was sort of the leader of their dances, races, and exploits. Many queer tales could be told about Red Cap and his friends, for they often left behind them traces of their merry doings."
Dom's face lit up with mischievous delight at that statement. "Well no wonder he's your favorite, he sounds to be just like you, Bill," Dom chuckled.
Billy tipped his head forward in amusement; he should have expected Dom would say something like that. "Right, I know," he grinned, playing along. "Especially the part about being a wee little merry man."
Dom grinned all the wider. "Well you've got the same stature at least," he teased devilishly, cuffing his friend's shoulder. Billy laughed and agreed with him, and their conversation once again turned jovial and mocking.
"At least I'm not a Tree Whisperer," Billy snorted.
Dom coughed suddenly and broke into a fit of loud laughs again at the reminder. "You never know, one day there might be a calling for such a profession."
"Well at least you have a backup plan for when your acting career fizzles out. You know, I didn't want to tell you so but I don't think you have much of a future in acting," he shook his head sadly. "Most of the other lads agree with me. 'Ah, that poor Dom, he thinks he can act and Peter's just getting more and more frustrated with every scene he botches up,' they'd say. I tried defending you, you know, since we were supposed to be such bosom friends, but there wasn't much I could say in your defense."
"Shove off!" Dom exclaimed, a shocked grin sprawled across his features. He pushed his friend playfully and Billy stumbled off to the side, laughing as he brought his arms up in a defensive gesture. Dom shook his head and looked away from him, feigning fury. "Now I'm getting counseled on my acting skills from the man who most of the crew knew as Bill 'The Girly Screamer' after your little episode with the fireworks!"
Billy looked appropriately aghast and stared down Dom's insolence with smiling eyes. "That wasn't my fault!" he exclaimed, his words barely distinguishable through his laughter. "I was surprised!" he added. Dom laughed outright, tilting his chin into the air as his laughter shook deep in his chest.
"Aye, you were surprised," he agreed, nodding his head. "And you scream like a girl."
"At least I don't smell like horse shite," Billy pointed out.
Dom's eyes widened considerably. "You know very well I had nothing to do with that!" he protested amidst Billy's laughter. His expression turned dark and he shook his head angrily. "Damn Viggo, I'll get him back for that yet."
The two continued on, laughing and chatting as the sun began to set below the groves of trees, turning the sky orange and gold, for they had been walking among Dom's trees for several hours now and evening was beginning to fall. Billy commented that they should probably think about heading on back to the city to find their hotel and get a bite for dinner, and Dom agreed. They walked back to the rental car in a calm and silence, taking in the last sights and smells of the mango trees in the cool airy evening. They stopped for a moment to admire the sky as the sun set, peeking through the leaves of the trees as a bright disk of brilliant mandarin orange, and all the many details of the brilliant towering tree was outlined as if by a golden pen. Suddenly it seemed to the two as they looked upon the blinding sphere of gold that there was a quick flash of red and the stirring of many leaves as though something hurried past, and in the wind they heard a soft clamoring, as if by a chirruping bird or the gay laughter of a very small voice.
Slowly Dom and Billy turned towards one another and looked at each other with wide, surprised faces. They simply stared a moment, knowing they need not bother asking whether the other person had seen what they had seen, for it was evident on their drawn faces that they both had very much witnessed the same thing. Instead they simply just blinked at each other, absorbing the occurrence, and smiled within themselves in quiet knowledge.
"Let's go eat," Dom said with a merry smile, and with that the two turned their backs on the wooded area and started again for the car. But once inside and again on their way they couldn't help but think back to the ample lovely trees and the magic embedded deep in their roots, and deep in their hearts.
This has been a Gabby Co production... No, I'm kidding. lol. Feedback would be greatly appreciated!
*gestures to the "Post a new comment" button*
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Merry Christmas :)
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You'll be pleased to know I heard their voices in my head. However you'll be amused to know that I pictured them dressed as merry and Pippin thoughout the whole thing. (odd, iston)
Great work! (And as much as I like this I'd also like to see more of Damned. *hunthint*)
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Love yoooou!
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I didn't notice this the first time I read through the story, but I think your spell-checker might have tripped you up a bit there.
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Ok... I'll stop my rambling now. Like I said above, love the story, and hope that you write more to it!
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Love you sammi!
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I really like the "Tree Whisperer" concept. It's really original in a world of stolen ideas.
Really good story (not very constructive, I know. Sorry).
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