The Myristicae Introduction

This week in my professional writing class, I had a brainstorm for a new story idea. It started out as just one assignment, but I’d like to flesh out the idea and find out what happens at the end of the story!

So I thought I’d tell you a bit about the story and kind of work on an outline for it.

Hazel Anderson lives in Pinetop, a tiny town in South Dakota. At eighteen years old, her curiosity about the world has just been sparked, and she is looking forward to traveling to the places she’s dreamed about like Paris and Prague. She is part of a closely-knit family, and it will be hard for her to leave her parents and little sister behind. But Pinetop is all she’s ever known, and she’s ready for adventure!

Until one day, all of that changes. Pinetop is a sheltered place. The people who live there don’t leave much, or ever. And no one new ever visits the community. That is because in Pinetop, there are walking, talking trees, called the Myristicae. The people of Pinetop think that all trees are supposed to walk and talk because that’s all they’ve ever known.

So the Myristicae have to keep the people of Pinetop from leaving, and they must keep anyone new from discovering the trees. If word got out about the trees, Pinetop would be overrun with tourists and reporters, and surely, the Myristicae would be experimented on.

Traditionally, the Myristicae have always had twelve members, and there must always be twelve members. So when an elderly Myristicae dies, the leaders – Ebony, the Premier or Queen, and Linden, the Magistratus or second in command – must find a new member. They select Hazel because she is at the proper ceremonial age and of upstanding character. They know her loyalty to the town will make her a great part of the tribe.

Linden goes to meet with Hazel to tell her she has been selected for a great honor. But Hazel refuses. She says she’s too young to throw away her independence and storms out in tears.  When she returns home, the house is dark and empty, and a note lies on the kitchen counter.

The Myristicae have taken Hazel’s family in order to give her some incentive to become one of the tree people.  The note says her family will be safe as long as she decides to join. Hazel knows the trees mean what they say. Her love for her family is so great that she drinks the potion to begin her transformation.

That is where the actual story I’ve written so far begins. I’ll continue to outline and maybe post some more of it.