The Witch’s Wood

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Experience Writing Halloween Flash Fiction Challenge ( based on the photo)

I’ve been asked by travelers and explorers who stop by my house which is the last stop before reaching the entrance to the Witch’s Wood. ” Why is it called the Witch’s Wood? Does a Witch really live there? Did a Witch ever live there? “

I tell people that  the entranceway to the Witch’s Wood sits on four acres—it is not vast, nor is it full of leaf-covered paths or anything you could call a trail.

Nothing calls the Witch’s Wood home. No birds nest in the trees, no bears feast on the berries that grow there, and no deer drink from the single stream that runs along the edge of the wood.

Sunlight filtering through the trees in the Witch’s Wood is green, sometimes golden. When night falls, it is so dark you would swear you were in a cave where nothing has taken a breath of its cool, thin air for thousands of years.

The Witch’s Wood is as silent as a tomb.

” So why is it called the Witch’s Wood ? “

” It’s a silly story the locals came up with I guess. Or maybe it was just their way of saying this patch of Wood scares them and that it’s best left on it’s own. Besides, for awhile it was just  tree farm and one family harvested wood from it for their business. “

The travelers will wait for me to continue.

” They were  carpenters and they built caskets and coffins and scaffolding for gallows. “

How wide their eyes get.  ” No kidding. “

” No kidding” I will say. ” All the lumber that came out of the Witch’s Wood was destined to be used in death. Maybe that’s why nothing can live there- for long. Anyhoo. Have a nice drive. “

Most of the time the travelers and explorers turn around and drive back the way they came in.

And there have been times when  the ones who drive in never drive back out again.

Watching Her Fade

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Today’s Experience Writing  Halloween Photo Challenge asks us to take pictures of the woods.

When I read that prompt, what came to mind was a boat I passed on my train commute to Everett, Washington, which I took three times a week.

Over the years, it’s been decomposing on the beach. There are “No Trespassing” signs on the property, so if you want to watch it return to the ocean—or maybe it’s better to say the ocean from which it came—you have to see it as you drive by.

I have questions about this boat like, what is her name? How long has she been here? What is it like to see her break away and fall into the Sound from your window?

I guess I could find out who lives there and ask, but in this case I’d rather continue to wonder.

Photo A.M. Moscoso
Puget Sound
2024

Photo A.M. Moscoso
Puget Sound
2024

Photo A.M. Moscoso
Puget Sound
2024

Photo A.M. Moscoso
Puget Sound
2025

What Big Teeth You Have

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Experience Writing Halloween Photo Prompt: TAKE A PICTURE OF A CARNIVOROUS PLANT

“These are pictures I’ve taken of trees that look like they are about to consume, or have consumed, anything living or dead that their roots and limbs can reach.”

Photo A.M. Moscoso
Stone Cemetery
Rolling Prairie, Dodge County, Wisconsin, USA
October 2025

Photo A.M. Moscoso
Olympia, WA

Photo A.M. Moscoso
Olympia WA

Photo A.M. Moscoso
Oakwood Cemetery.
Beaver Dam WI USA
October2023

Photo A.M. Moscoso
Saint Mary’s Cemetery
“Annunciation Cemetery”
Fox Lake WIsconsin

Somewhere Between The Trees

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Experience Writing Halloween Challenge: CARNIVOROUS PLANTS

Suicasmo – Own work
Views of Mount Fuji from Ōwakudani

Crater with the Eight Sacred Peaks (Hasshin-po) Mt Fuji

Everything about Mount Fuji inspires anyone who views  it to reflect on life and art.

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano that has remained dormant since its last eruption in 1707  Fuji has an exceptionally symmetrical volcanic cone that is recognized globally as a natural symbol of Japan.It is also a popular subject for Japanese art due to its cultural and religious significance.  Mount Fuji was named a UNESCO World Heritage cultural site in 2013 for its profound impact on art, religion, and culture.

The Aokigahara forest, also called the Sea of Trees, sits right along the edge of Mount Fuji.

This forest  is called the Sea of Trees for good reason and even though I’ve only seen pictures and videos of it, I will go out on a limb and say it is just as inspirational and  it causes people to reflect on life as well, though for sadder and darker reasons.”

The Aokigahara forest, also called the Sea of Trees is also known as the Suicide Forest.

Remnants: Shoes for a man, a woman and a child left in the Aokigahara Jukai forest on the flank of Mount Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture. The name in part translates as ‘Sea of Trees,’ though with good reason it is often referred to as ‘Suicide Forest.’ | ROB GILHOOLY

Sometimes people find the suicides shortly after they have passed. Other times all people find are the ropes and clothes , a few bones and notes rendered illegible by the elements. But the people that no one finds are taken by the trees and brought back to the earth.

They are consumed by the forest in silence.

Aokigahara forest in Yamanashi, Japan.

When someone walks through the forest and they stop for shade and rest against a tree, it’s possible that the tree from which they seek protection is a tomb- that in it’s limbs and leaves hold the last traces of a person who walked into the Sea of Trees and drowned.

If you visit the Sea of Trees, remember it’s a graveyard  show respect and care and remember the dead  are not resting all around you.

“Quietly think once more about your parents, siblings or children,” the sign says in Japanese. “Please don’t suffer alone, and first reach out.”