Week 2 Story: The Willow Tree

Pygmalion paced back and forth nervously in front of where the large weeping willow tree had been. He’d arrived thirty minutes before sunset as he always did and expected his Willow tree to be there as it always was, but the beautiful tree had vanished without a trace, and Pygmalion feared, his Willow girl with it. This had been their place for the past year. For one year Pygmalion has been coming to the weeping willow. He was 18 the very first time he’d wandered too deep into the forbidden wood and found her. He got lost trying to get back to the village and stumbled across the beautiful willow tree. The tree seemed so out of place that he stopped to examine the unique scene.

The sun began to set while he was sitting at the base of the tree watching the branches flutter in the breeze when he saw her. A beautiful young woman, maybe a year or two older than him sitting on a small rock a few yards away. Pygmalion froze with awe, the woman was nearly transparent, almost like a ghost but seemed to glow, and she was staring right at him. She was the most glorious thing he’d ever seen.

The woman stood up and walked over to where he was sitting and gracefully sat in front of him. She warmly smiled and waved hello. Pygmalion sat up nervously, assessing the situation.

“Hello, my name is Pygmalion.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She smiled at him again and pointed to the willow tree behind him and then pointed at herself.

Pygmalion was confused, why wasn’t she speaking to him? “Can you not speak?” She shook her head sadly and repeated the same gestures again.

He followed her gestures, looking at the tree, and then back to the girl in front of him. “Willow?” She nodded excitedly at him. “Is your name Willow?” She grinned broadly and nodded her head.

Pygmalion relaxed a little with this new bit of information. “That’s a beautiful name.” She smiled and looked down, seeming to blush. Pygmalion had so many questions. He wanted to know who she was, why she was there, what happened to her, but he knew she couldn’t answer any of these things, but Pygmalion decided to try his best at communicating with her.

The night seemed to wrap around them as they tried to communicate and soon Pygmalion noticed the sun starting to show its face on the horizon. Willow noticed it too and looked troubled. She began to point at the rising sun and then to herself repeatedly. As soon as the sun rose, Willow faded in front of his eyes. Pygmalion sat there staring at the spot Willow had just disappeared from puzzled.

As the year went on Pygmalion visited the woman in the forbidden wood more often. He quickly learned that his time with Willow only lasted from sunset to sunrise, so he always used it wisely. The more he visited her, the deeper he fell in love. She was beautiful inside and out, she became his Willow girl. He longed to touch her, to hold her, but every time he reached to caress her face, his hand slipped through a cool mist. He wanted more than anything to be with Willow, in real flesh.

After a whole year of loving a girl he couldn’t hold, Pygmalion decided to go to the gods for help. He prayed to Aphrodite vigorously and when Pygmalion, having made his offering, stood by the altar, and said, “If you can truly grant all things, I wish for a wife, the one I love, to be mine forever...” and not wanting to say “the girl made of mist” he said “a wife like my Willow girl.”

Hearing him, Aphrodite knew what he truly meant in his heart, and as a sign of her fondness for him, she visited the forbidden wood and brought Willow to life.

The sun was nearly set and Pygmalion still paced back and forth in the empty span of space where the weeping willow once stood. When the sun disappeared behind the horizon and its warmth had gone with it, Pygmalion looked around frantically for his Willow, fearing the worst.

Pygmalion sank to his knees on the damp forest floor and wept. “What have I done?”

That’s when he heard a beautiful voice say, “Pygmalion.”

Pygmalion immediately lifted his head and saw her, his glorious Willow girl, but she was whole. She looked alive and he was confused, how could this be? Pygmalion was happy but uncertain, and afraid that his eyes were simply playing a trick on him. He slowly reached for her, wanting to simply brush his hand to her cheek. His hand met flesh and he could feel the warmth there. Stunned by this, he cupped her face with both of his hands. She was real! Overtaken by emotion and at a loss of words with which to thank 

Aphrodite for this incredible gift, Pygmalion pressed his lips to hers. Her lips were warm and soft, not merely a cold mist, or his imagination but real flesh. Willow returning the kisses he gave, blushed, and, held her lover as they both watched the beautiful morning sunrise for the very first time as one.

Story Source: Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Tony Kline (2000).

Night Sky Photo: Kimon Maritz

Author's Notes

I was intrigued by the original story of the legend of Pygmalion and the Statue and wanted to keep to the same theme of forbidden lovers. I decided to create an almost science fiction feel by making the female in the story a ghost-like figure that can't speak or be touched. I've always felt that weeping willow trees have always had an almost mystical, fantasy feel about them so I wanted to bring that into the story. The original idea behind the character of Willow was that she was the spirit like projection of the weeping willow tree, almost like its soul. That's why at the end of the story the tree is gone and the human version of Willow materializes. It's almost like Pygmalion fell in love with the beauty of nature itself.