Tree, Spare that Woodman

Naomi Heckscher arrives at her neighbor Cappy’s one‑room cabin on a remote alien world, expecting a friendly visit and a sip of homebrew. Instead she finds the old settler dead, his body sprawled beneath gnarled blue trunks that seem to have shifted overnight. The unsettling sight forces Naomi to confront a strange secret the colony has kept hidden: the “tree‑things” that have long shadowed the landscape.

Her husband Ted reluctantly reveals that the trees are not mere plants but entities that can sense and echo human fear, communicating through subtle electrical pulses. Since the first settlement, sixteen people have vanished under their influence, and the colonists have been ordered to stay inside when the trees gather. As Naomi wrestles with terror and curiosity, she must decide whether to trust the mysterious flora or risk the unknown that lingers among the alien forest.