I had a Latin prof back during my undergrad – a rather eccentric old British man. Long story short, we were learning about the hortatory form of the Subjunctive mood. That’s the form used to encourage, basically, “Let us [do thing]!” – I was struck by the way his accent turned “hor-ta-tory” into “horta-tree” and immediately had the idea for a tree that encourages people.
Kat turns towards the big tree. It’s a tall, gnarled thing, its branches making a thick, vast canopy overhead.
“It is you talking to us, right?” she asks.
“Of course it is!” the tree answers. “I love helping people!”
“Uh huh,” Kat says.
Of all the weird things that have happened to her this week, this is still solidly somewhere towards the top of the bottom third.
But it’s still only Tuesday!
“Allow me to introduce myself,” the tree continues. “I am the Horta-tree. I’d shake hands. But, well…”
“You don’t have hands. You’re a tree!” Dunstana interjects.
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