Transcription from the dictaphone found at the scene is as follows:
(The voice of the victim.)
My search for the grand birch trees has led me to the Black Forest. It appears this region of the world is where the folklore regarding the trees originated. It is interesting to note that local sources tell a slightly different tale than the one we all know.
In the more wide-spread version of the myth it is said that those who lay eyes on the trunks of the grand birch trees will be blessed with luck, wealth and fertility. However, the local version says those who see the trees never return - as they are eaten by the trees.
(Click.)
(The voice of the victim.)
I worry anyone listening to this will think I've gone mad and have started to believe these folklores. Rest assured, I don't. But I do believe they hold some truth. There are so many types of tree in our world. We have grand trees like the oak with trunks thicker than a man. We have silver birches with bright white trunks. Yet... there is no grand birch tree on record which combines these two traits. Our understanding of the genetics of trees points to this combination of traits not just being possible, but actually being a beneficial pairing of attributes. The trees must exist somewhere - but the only record of them is this folklore. So I work with what we're given.
(Click.)
(The voice of the victim.)
Using what I've learnt locally I now have a lot of information on the trees.
1. They are said to always appear in twos (some sort of shared root system maybe?).
2. They are as thick as oak trees, if not thicker.
3. They are brilliant white without markings.
4. They're said to move. This is unlikely but could point to fast growth, a tree appearing where it wasn't before could make some people believe it moved there.
5. They appear only at night. Again, unlikely - but it makes sense they would be spotted better at night with their white bark.
I have found the name of a small village in the forest where the folklore is said to have first been told. The village is long gone, but its location is known so I am to head out there tomorrow. My plan is to walk through the woods at night to see if I find anything.
(Click.)
(The voice of the victim.)
I can't believe it... I think I may have found them! I can see up ahead of me two massive white trunks in the moonlight. They are still some way off and I can't see the detail of them yet, especially in this low-light, but I'm too excited not to start recording my thoughts. As the folklores say, there's just two of them - and they are huge!
There's a lot of scrub on the ground here which is covering the base of the trees unfortunately, this means I can't make any comments on their root systems from this vantage point. I can't see the foliage from here either - the trees are so tall they push up all the way through the canopy before even the first branch on them is visible - I can't begin to guess how tall they are!
As I get closer I can see the information about the bark having no markings is accurate. It has a very smooth appearance though - I must say there's a slight pinkish tinge to the white - maybe some sort of fungus or...
(A sequence of loud rumbling noises can be heard.)
There's been a slight Earthquake as I drew closer to the trees. One of them has appeared to have slightly shifted in its position - its possible their size may have caused the ground here to become unsteady, I shall tread carefully.
(Click.)
(The voice of the victim.)
Typical, just as I get close after a very slow and careful approach the moon has gone in. Thankfully I can just about make out the trunks right in front of me. My plan is now to climb one of the trees and see if I can't find some foliage. I still can't see any branches to grab onto but I do have my spiked shoes so I should be able to make it up if I can peirce this bark... come on...
(Sound of repeated thumping and scraping.)
Huh, the bark is a lot tougher than I thought, I'm going to have to really kick if I want to...
(Unknown female's voice - very loud)
Ow!!! What the fuck was that?!
(The voice of the victim)
What?! Who's there?!
(Unknown female's voice - very loud)
Ewww! Is something climbing on me?
(The voice of the victim)
Oh my God... this isn't a tree!!
(Large boom heard.)
(Recording ends.)
Meta: I had the idea for this story a while back. I liked the idea of someone thinking they were looking at two trees, not realising they were the legs of a giantess. I figured it could happen if it was night and they could be mistaken for two trees with white bark. Being the plant-nerd that I am, I wanted to look up what sort of tree would fit the bill of having a white trunk like a birch, but be big enough for my kind of giantess. After some googling I found out there is a gap in tree genealogy and no trees exist which fit the bill. I thought that would make an interesting angle for the story.
I put the collage together to match my story. It was so hard working with a night time image like this to try and keep the giantess' legs visible. I got there in the end but it took a lot of adjusting with colors and shadows. I added a foreground of more trees and fireflies to make sure the legs blended in nicely.
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