Conor Matthews
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Writer. Opinions are my own. https://ko-fi.com/conormatthews
Stories (211)
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The Trees Swallow People: Part 21
It was dark on Easter Sunday. So dark I would have gone back to sleep had Diva not started barking, wanting to go out for a wee. I grumbled, swearing, getting dressed since I was sleeping in the nip with the warming nights, slipping into a pair of slip-ons and shuffling through the house and to the door. It was only when I opened the front door, with Diva shooting out, parading in a circle, and then piddling on the gravel, that I realised it was still as dark as night during the day. Street lamps still shone in the shadow of the great behemoth, spanning and stretching across the blue sky, eclipsing us in a paradoxical night. The houses were all abandoned as their doors hung open, the last remaining residents standing on the street, gawking up at the mass of fir reaching from horizon to horizon; from East to West. The rippling sea of branches shuddered and moved with a breath of a giant, threatening to give out from its own weight. There was no taper, no convergence of vanishing point; you wouldn't be able to tell if it was one straight body or if it' grew in diameter as it went. It was the mega-tree growing in the centre of the paddock.
By Conor Matthews3 years ago in Fiction
The Trees Swallow People: Part 20
We spent the day following a cat. I know that sounds strange, but let's be honest, we passed strange a long time ago. It had been a few weeks since the incident with Declan, the would-be arsonists, and the trees. Already, in the warming April sunshine, tribal lines were divvied up across the village. The hill sat strongly in cult territory, stretching down the Rye Hill and into Ryevale, where I met Shepard in his humble abode. The arsonists claimed everything else from the “Lep”, through Main Street, and up towards Louisa Bridge. This meant the cult had the front entrance to the park, and the arsonists had the back entrance. The park had become their new battlefield.
By Conor Matthews3 years ago in Fiction
The Trees Swallow People: Part 19
It's easy to think there's only one outcome to events. Often the printing press is said to have brought about a new era in information, literacy, and free speech, but rarely is it mentioned how it privatised communication and mass-produced falsehoods. People will talk about how the fall of empires lead to the rise of nationalism, but never mention libertarianism, communism, or democracy. We don't wish to admit good and bad or indifferent outcomes can share a source. In the same way, the trees caused people to join not just Shepard's cult. I found out on a seemingly "normal" Wednesday that there was another group forged from the birth of the trees.
By Conor Matthews3 years ago in Fiction
The Trees Swallow People: Part 18
I did something stupid. Illuminating, but stupid. I suppose that's the same for most people; moments of clarity in drips and drabs of the unintentional. The situation with the trees, for instance. It's peculiar how things have only dawned on me in retrospect. The initial researchers all arrived in Intellex vehicles and gear when the mystery of the trees first occurred. We all just assumed they were from the government. All the research they collected, therefore, was privately owned by Intellex, and thus could benefit no one. Information that could save lives kept secret.
By Conor Matthews3 years ago in Fiction
Roald Dahl Shouldn't Be Censored, But Not For The Reason You May Think
There's few persistent things about childhood that transcends generation, nationality, and class as IP rediscovered or reintroduced. Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles, Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry, The Muppets are just a few that come to mind. Among them, every so often, is Roald Dahl.
By Conor Matthews3 years ago in Geeks
The Trees Swallow People: Part 17
My hair was becoming shaggy and untamed when I finally decided it was time to get a cut. I take after my mother; dark, wavy, thick, and wild when it's left alone, especially with comb resistant bed head. I put off the hair cut mainly because of the prices these days.
By Conor Matthews3 years ago in Fiction
