A lighthearted fantasy story about a raccoon who plays a trick on two hounds to save his skin, and then finds out that wishes have a way of coming true.
Today’s story is “The Wishing Tree” by Renee Carter Hall, a fantasy and science fiction author whose most recent book is Signal from Goal Publications, and you can find more of her stories free on Curious Fictions.com.
Read for you by Khaki, your faithful fireside companion.
You’re listening to The Voice of Dog.
Speaker:I’m Khaki, your faithful fireside companion,
Speaker:and today’s story is
Speaker:“The Wishing Tree”
Speaker:by Renee Carter Hall,
Speaker:a fantasy and science fiction author whose most recent book is Signal
Speaker:from Goal Publications,
Speaker:and you can find more of her stories free
Speaker:on Curious Fictions.com.
Please enjoy:“The Wishing Tree”
Please enjoy:by Renee Carter Hall
Please enjoy:He was the oldest raccoon in the backwoods,
Please enjoy:and he not only knew every trick,
Please enjoy:he'd invented half of them himself.
Please enjoy:He'd seen the leaves change so many times that he'd lost all count of how many years he'd lived,
Please enjoy:but though his gray-brown fur had gone silvery white in places,
Please enjoy:he was still as spry and limber a coon
Please enjoy:as any hound had ever chased.
Please enjoy:He had no name, not even one he called himself,
Please enjoy:but when anyone in the woods talked about him,
Please enjoy:everyone understood who they meant.
Please enjoy:He was curled up in a cozy hollow that day,
Please enjoy:dozing as afternoon settled into dusk,
Please enjoy:when he heard the hounds baying.
Please enjoy:He recognized their voices.
Please enjoy:One of the hounds was young and green.
Please enjoy:The other one--wasn't.
Please enjoy:And he hadn't lived so many years without learning to respect at least a few of his enemies.
Please enjoy:So he hauled himself out of the tree
Please enjoy:and set about his usual course,
Please enjoy:adding in bits as the opportunity arose:
Please enjoy:a few leaps from one branch to another,
Please enjoy:a quick splash in the stream,
Please enjoy:a doubling-back here
Please enjoy:and a figure eight there.
Please enjoy:And it was almost enough.
Please enjoy:But he hadn't been counting on that rotten branch to give way,
Please enjoy:sending him tumbling nose over tail in a most undignified manner,
Please enjoy:down to the ground
Please enjoy:just as the hounds found his trail.
Please enjoy:They were close. He could smell their hot breath-
Please enjoy:-what did that hunter feed them, anyway?-
Please enjoy:-and he had just enough time to bolt up the nearest tree,
Please enjoy:which happened to be a tall oak
Please enjoy:newly-dressed in its autumn bronze.
Please enjoy:An instant later, the hounds burst through the underbrush,
Please enjoy:raced to the base of the tree,
Please enjoy:and bawled. The raccoon closed his eyes briefly.
Please enjoy:Treed. By the blessed Lady Moon, he hadn't been treed since these dogs' sires were suckling pups.
Please enjoy:It was clear enough there'd be no doubling back this time.
Please enjoy:This was going to take some fast thinking and some faster talking.
Please enjoy:Fortunately, he was a master at both.
Please enjoy:He cleared his throat.
Please enjoy:"Good evening, gentlemen." The hounds
Please enjoy:looked at each other.
Please enjoy:The younger one, Buddy, was a bluetick barely more than a pup,
Please enjoy:all wiggle and wag,
Please enjoy:eager to get even a pat on the head for a job well done.
Please enjoy:The older hound, Red,
Please enjoy:was a battle-worn redbone.
Please enjoy:His coat was snarled with burrs
Please enjoy:and etched with ragged scars,
Please enjoy:and a spark of hellfire blazed in each eye.
Please enjoy:His teeth--the raccoon noted--were yellow,
Please enjoy:but they were still sharp.
Please enjoy:"Is he talking to us?"
Please enjoy:Buddy asked Red. Red snarled.
Please enjoy:"Of course he's talking to us-
Please enjoy:-who else is here?"
Please enjoy:He called up the tree's thick trunk.
Please enjoy:"And good evening to you too, mister.
Please enjoy:I hope you've enjoyed it,
Please enjoy:because I haven't seen food all day, and I'm figuring on getting the tender parts as soon as you hit the ground."
Please enjoy:Buddy yelped laughter.
Please enjoy:"That's a good one."
Please enjoy:"Well," the raccoon replied calmly,
Please enjoy:"if you can't see farther than your belly, I suppose that's your loss. Still,
Please enjoy:I'd have thought a...
Please enjoy:a sophisticated canine like yourself
Please enjoy:would know the legend if anyone did.
Please enjoy:did." The hounds exchanged another glance.
Please enjoy:"What legend?" Red asked.
Please enjoy:The raccoon feigned surprise.
Please enjoy:"Then you don't know about this tree?"
Please enjoy:Red looked the trunk up and down.
Please enjoy:"What about it?" "It's the Wishing Tree.
Please enjoy:I thought everyone in these woods knew about the Wishing Tree." "What's a wishing tree?" Buddy piped up. "Shut up, you," Red snapped. He looked back up
Please enjoy:at the raccoon.
Please enjoy:"What's a wishing tree?"
Please enjoy:"A magic tree that gets you whatever you want most," the raccoon explained. "Of course,
Please enjoy:you have to climb it
Please enjoy:and get an acorn from up here to wish on,
Please enjoy:and I don't think those nails of yours are up to it."
Please enjoy:Buddy was already scrabbling at the bark with his front paws, trying to grab hold.
Please enjoy:"Stop it," Red said with a growl.
Please enjoy:"Everyone knows dogs can't climb trees."
Please enjoy:"Yes, that's true," the raccoon said.
Please enjoy:"Of course... I could make your wishes for you.
Please enjoy:you." Buddy's tail wagged so hard it stirred up dead leaves in the underbrush.
Please enjoy:"Really?" "Don't see why not.
Please enjoy:There are plenty of acorns up here.
Please enjoy:I can reach two right--from--here.
Please enjoy:Now," the raccoon said,
Please enjoy:"after we make your wishes, you have to close your eyes, turn around seven times, and run home.
Please enjoy:And you can't open your eyes until you get there, or your wish won't come true.
Please enjoy:true." Buddy looked at Red.
Please enjoy:"But how're we gonna get home if we can't see?"
Please enjoy:Red rolled his eyes. "Use your nose, stupid. Are you a hunting dog or not?" The raccoon heard rustling,
Please enjoy:and the shifting breeze carried the oily scent
Please enjoy:of human. "Better make those wishes quick.
Please enjoy:How about the little one first?"
Please enjoy:"Well..." Buddy lowered his head in a canine blush.
Please enjoy:"It's sorta..." "Out with it,"
Please enjoy:Red snapped, "or we won't have time for mine!
Please enjoy:The master's coming!"
Please enjoy:"Well, there's a... a lady down the road.
Please enjoy:She's..." "Pretty?" the raccoon prompted.
Please enjoy:"Oh, yes. But we're always tied up, so...
Please enjoy:so..." Red rolled his eyes again.
Please enjoy:"You wouldn't know a bitch's backside from a woodchuck hole."
Please enjoy:"Say no more," the raccoon said,
Please enjoy:clutching the acorn and closing his eyes.
Please enjoy:"Okay. Now what about you?"
Please enjoy:"Steak," Red said dreamily,
Please enjoy:licking his lips.
Please enjoy:"Had it once when I was a pup.
Please enjoy:Back when the master was different.
Please enjoy:different." He sighed. "Long time ago."
Please enjoy:"All you think about is food," Buddy said. "Yeah, well, someday you'll learn what's really important in life. And it's not a little show dog with more scent than sense." The raccoon held
Please enjoy:the second acorn,
Please enjoy:closed his eyes, and opened them again.
Please enjoy:"Done!" he said, and as soon as the hounds' eyes closed,
Please enjoy:he hauled himself down the tree and as far away as he could get
Please enjoy:while still being in the woods.
Please enjoy:A minute later, the hunter arrived-
Please enjoy:-and nearly got barreled down by his two hounds,
Please enjoy:their eyes still shut tight,
Please enjoy:galloping full-speed
Please enjoy:all the way home. #
Please enjoy:Red stretched and settled,
Please enjoy:trying to find a position that would accommodate his swollen belly.
Please enjoy:It had been a good night.
Please enjoy:He chuckled to himself, remembering.
Please enjoy:It had started just after sundown, when they'd woken up from a long nap.
Please enjoy:Buddy had started up his lovesick howling again-
Please enjoy:-he called it singing-
Please enjoy:-and then broke off in surprise when he found he didn't have a rope around his neck anymore.
Please enjoy:It lay in the dirt like a dead snake.
Please enjoy:Wasn't chewed through,
Please enjoy:and wasn't cut. And when Red turned his head to look closer,
Please enjoy:he realized his was gone too.
Please enjoy:But before he'd been able to investigate, the master had come out,
Please enjoy:yelling for Buddy to shut up if he knew what was good for him.
Please enjoy:Buddy was young, but he had enough sense to take his chance,
Please enjoy:and when the master saw his prize bluetick coonhound take off down the hill and down the road,
Please enjoy:he went chasing after.
Please enjoy:And he left the cabin door
Please enjoy:open. Red had enough sense to take his chance, too.
Please enjoy:That open door was all the invitation he needed,
Please enjoy:and inside, his nose led him right to the dinner
Please enjoy:his master had left behind:
Please enjoy:a gorgeous raw steak,
Please enjoy:deep pink and marbled,
Please enjoy:waiting to be slapped into the cast-iron skillet.
Please enjoy:He grabbed it, turned to run,
Please enjoy:and then paused. He remembered this cabin.
Please enjoy:He remembered curling up by that woodstove in the corner,
Please enjoy:feeling the fire's warmth
Please enjoy:washing over him like his mother's tongue,
Please enjoy:back from when he was too little to know anything except touch.
Please enjoy:He remembered getting tidbits of master's dinner,
Please enjoy:remembered pats on the head
Please enjoy:and scratches behind the ears.
Please enjoy:He glanced back at the kitchen table.
Please enjoy:One of the bottles was there, too, right next to the skillet.
Please enjoy:His hackles went up,
Please enjoy:and he growled around the dripping meat.
Please enjoy:The bottles had started everything.
Please enjoy:Once they showed up,
Please enjoy:the bad times started
Please enjoy:and never stopped.
Please enjoy:Not being able to wake the master.
Please enjoy:Being shut inside all day, all night,
Please enjoy:and then hit when he did what he had to do on the floor.
Please enjoy:Pain that made him want to bite,
Please enjoy:and worse pain if he did.
Please enjoy:Once, his master's own rifle aimed at him.
Please enjoy:And then the halfhearted doghouse,
Please enjoy:and the rope tied tight.
Please enjoy:But there was no rope around his neck now.
Please enjoy:He held the steak firmly in his teeth-
Please enjoy:-those lovely salt-sweet juices pooling on his tongue-
Please enjoy:-and decided. On his way out,
Please enjoy:he paused at the master's chair.
Please enjoy:Once it had smelled good,
Please enjoy:as the master did, but now it smelled only of the bottles.
Please enjoy:As the master did.
Please enjoy:His bladder was conveniently full.
Please enjoy:He lifted his leg to the worn upholstery and,
Please enjoy:when finished, trotted off into the night.
Please enjoy:Nothing in his life
Please enjoy:had ever tasted so good as a fine steak
Please enjoy:eaten in the shelter of a hollow log,
Please enjoy:and nothing had ever felt so good as falling asleep afterward
Please enjoy:with the night woods singing around him. # Nudge. "Hey.
Please enjoy:"Hey." Nudge. "Hey." Red woke,
Please enjoy:looking bleary-eyed at the log overhead
Please enjoy:and the woods beyond.
Please enjoy:Buddy was standing next to him.
Please enjoy:What were they... Then he felt the faint breeze against the ring on his neck
Please enjoy:where the rope had chafed the fur away,
Please enjoy:and he remembered.
Please enjoy:He yawned until he squeaked,
Please enjoy:then looked at Buddy.
Please enjoy:"How'd you get here?"
Please enjoy:"Tracked you. I'm a hunting dog, aren't I?"
Please enjoy:"I guess so." Red stretched.
Please enjoy:"Did you find her?"
Please enjoy:"Oh, yes." Buddy rolled onto his back
Please enjoy:and sighed blissfully.
Please enjoy:"It was wonderful."
Please enjoy:"Hmph." "So what do we do now?"
Please enjoy:Buddy asked. "I'm not going back."
Please enjoy:"We could find a new master.
Please enjoy:master." Red laid his head on his paws.
Please enjoy:"Done with masters."
Please enjoy:"Come on. A little one.
Please enjoy:The little ones are fun.
Please enjoy:I had one when I was a pup." "You're
Please enjoy:still a pup,"
Please enjoy:Red grumbled, but his ears came up a little,
Please enjoy:considering it. "And how are we supposed to find one?"
Please enjoy:Buddy thought a moment,
Please enjoy:scratched an itch behind his left ear,
Please enjoy:chased his tail, then sat down and thought some more.
Please enjoy:"We could wish for one!"
Please enjoy:he declared finally.
Please enjoy:"Wish for..." Red trailed off.
Please enjoy:After all, the taste of steak still lingered in his mouth,
Please enjoy:and Buddy reeked of that show dog down the road.
Please enjoy:"Well... Couldn't hurt, I guess." #
Please enjoy:The raccoon watched the two hounds approach from his perch on the oak tree.
Please enjoy:They weren't baying,
Please enjoy:and his curiosity won out enough that he came out and let them see him.
Please enjoy:"On the hunt again, boys?"
Please enjoy:"Nope," Buddy said, tail wagging.
Please enjoy:"We want to make another wish.
Please enjoy:wish." The raccoon blinked.
Please enjoy:Well, now you've started something...
Please enjoy:"Another wish?"
Please enjoy:"Just one," Buddy continued. "For both of us.
Please enjoy:us." The raccoon shrugged and plucked an acorn.
Please enjoy:"All right. What is it?"
Please enjoy:"We want a new master.
Please enjoy:A little one." "And no bottles, ever,"
Please enjoy:Red added. "Okay, why not.
Please enjoy:not." The raccoon closed his
Please enjoy:eyes. "There you go.
Please enjoy:Enjoy." "And..." Red started.
Please enjoy:The raccoon peered down at him.
Please enjoy:"You said one wish.
Please enjoy:wish." The old hound looked embarrassed.
Please enjoy:"And one for you. Whatever you want.
Please enjoy:You know, to thank you,
Please enjoy:for the other ones.
Please enjoy:ones." What were they putting in dog food these days?
Please enjoy:"Why not," he repeated.
Please enjoy:He grabbed another acorn and closed his eyes-
Please enjoy:-and no hunters anymore, ever.
Please enjoy:The hounds turned around seven times and ran.
Please enjoy:The raccoon chuckled,
Please enjoy:turned around seven times just to see what it felt like,
Please enjoy:got dizzy, and nearly fell off the branch.
Please enjoy:His front paws still ached a little from untying those ropes,
Please enjoy:but if it made for two less hounds in the woods,
Please enjoy:it was worth it. And then,
Please enjoy:just because he was curious and had nothing better to do,
Please enjoy:he followed the hounds.
Please enjoy:Their trail was easy to follow,
Please enjoy:what with all the trampled underbrush and broken branches,
Please enjoy:and it led down to the road.
Please enjoy:He stopped in a tree at the edge of the woods-
Please enjoy:-and winced when he heard the screech of brakes.
Please enjoy:The hounds, their eyes still closed, had run right into the path of a navy-blue minivan.
Please enjoy:Buddy, he saw, had been knocked off his feet,
Please enjoy:but he still looked to be breathing well enough.
Please enjoy:Red stood over him
Please enjoy:and growled when the driver got out.
Please enjoy:"Dad!" A boy leapt out of the back.
Please enjoy:"Stay back," the man warned.
Please enjoy:"They might bite if they're hurt." He edged
Please enjoy:closer. Red sized him up.
Please enjoy:He smelled good, as the old master had long ago.
Please enjoy:A bit of woodsmoke,
Please enjoy:clean human skin with a little sweat,
Please enjoy:and the scent of others mingled with his.
Please enjoy:The scent of family.
Please enjoy:And no bottles, either,
Please enjoy:not a hint. It was good.
Please enjoy:Red looked up, searching the man's eyes,
Please enjoy:and wagged his tail once,
Please enjoy:then twice. "Hey, buddy,"
Please enjoy:the man said softly.
Please enjoy:"Easy now, that's a good boy.
Please enjoy:Just want a look at your friend here...
Please enjoy:here..." The old hound backed up and sat.
Please enjoy:Buddy whined as the man came close,
Please enjoy:then relaxed. From the tree,
Please enjoy:the raccoon watched
Please enjoy:as the man took out a cell phone and made a call.
Please enjoy:The boy brought a blanket from the car,
Please enjoy:and they carried the little hound carefully inside.
Please enjoy:Red hesitated just an instant,
Please enjoy:then jumped in, and the minivan drove away.
Please enjoy:Well, that's two less hounds for sure,
Please enjoy:the raccoon thought.
Please enjoy:Still... it was a little odd.
Please enjoy:He'd made that Wishing Tree up in the time it took a leaf to fall...
Please enjoy:but what were the chances...?
Please enjoy:He turned to head back into the woods-
Please enjoy:-and stopped. There was something new on this tree.
Please enjoy:He looked down at the trunk.
Please enjoy:A yellow sign, bright and fresh, was nailed there.
Please enjoy:He couldn't read it,
Please enjoy:but he knew what it meant,
Please enjoy:and there was one on nearly every tree that bordered the road,
Please enjoy:as far as he could see:
Please enjoy:POSTED. NO HUNTING.
Please enjoy:No hunters anymore.
Please enjoy:Well. The raccoon hurried back to the oak,
Please enjoy:clambered up, and clutched an acorn tightly in both paws.
Please enjoy:"Crawdads without pinchers," he whispered,
Please enjoy:and closed his eyes.
Please enjoy:This was “The Wishing Tree”
Please enjoy:by Renee Carter Hall,
Please enjoy:read for you by Khaki,
Please enjoy:your faithful fireside companion.
Please enjoy:Thank you for listening
Please enjoy:to The Voice of Dog