Week 2 Story: The Willow Tree (REVISED)

Photo by S.L.

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 had for months 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 had wandered too deep into the forbidden wood when he found her. He got lost trying to get back to the village and stumbled across the beautiful willow tree. Pygmalion was intrigued by the beautiful tree so decided he'd go and examine it.

The sun began to set while he was sitting at the base of the tree watching the branches flutter in the breeze when out of the corner of his eye 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 sat frozen in awe, the woman was nearly transparent, like a ghost. When his eyes met hers, he saw that she was staring right at him. She was the most glorious thing he’d ever seen. She warmly smiled and waved hello and Pygmalion sat up nervously.

“Hello, my name is Pygmalion.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She smiled at him, standing up to walk over to where he was, and gracefully sat in front of him. She 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 it was obvious she couldn’t answer any of these things, so 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. 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. 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.

After a whole year of loving a girl he couldn’t touch, Pygmalion decided to go to the gods for help. He prayed to Aphrodite and when Pygmalion 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. That’s when he heard a beautiful voice say his name.

Pygmalion immediately whipped around and saw her, his glorious Willow girl, but she was whole. She looked alive so he was confused, how could this be? Pygmalion was happy but uncertain, so 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, 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 Pygmalion 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).

New Author's Notes:

I didn't want to change much, I corrected some grammar and shortened the story a little bit. There were some sentences I took out because they weren't needed and tried to add some detail so that things would make more sense. I still wanted it to be the love story of Willow and Pygmalion, but a story that was more clear than the first. I hope you enjoy it!

(Old) 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.