Behind the story: The Tree and the Chainsaw

In my book Forever Striking a Crucified Pose, The Tree and the Chainsaw is my favorite. The story had developed overtime and from multiple things that had happened over the years that I had experienced.

For example I was on a bus, I was young, and was going through Tennnesee traveling north. We had just left the city of Florence, Alabama where I think Helen Keller was born. As I looked out the window, it seemed as if every few miles or so I’d see a cross on the side of the road with flowers. I had seen these markers before, a place where someone had crashed their car into, but to see so many on one road, really bothered me.

Then there was this time, I was at my home and it was late, like after midnight and I was up alone in this four bedroom place, antique home, with a claw-foot bathtub even, and I was watching a horror movie. I heard a loud screech, and metal colliding and it sounded as if something had ran into my house, and all the electricity went off and I was paralyzed with fear. I couldn’t even use my phone because it was a hand-held that wouldn’t work if there was no electricity. I made my way to the front door, and opened it and at my door was a young female, teens, and covered in blood. And across the street was a silver Mustang, flipped on its top, electric pole snapped in two smashed up against the house across the street. Everyone in the car survived.

An even more personal story, a terrible tragedy occurred years later when a friend from high school died instantly after wrecking his vehicle on a desolate road and into a tree.

But with all that said, I think the main inspiration was my mom and dad. They’ve been married for 46 years, and have lived in the same home for nearly 35 years, and they are at times an odd couple, my dad very much a busy body, my mom retired, will watch him and though they love each other very much, they have their own personalities which at times is comical to me at least.

Then I imagined how would they deal with something like this, an accident occurring in their own front yard, the frightening experience of the crash, the aftermath of picking up the pieces, and how they’d both cope with it in private, and even more when they confront each other with their feelings about the tragedy.

It really is more than just the accident, it’s the grieving process, it’s more of a story of Jim and Rose and how they feel very protective of each other and at the same time feel very passionate about why they feel the way they feel, and how they sometimes internalize their feelings. And I think sometimes, the small arguments and debates can be healthy in a relationship, and what an awesome thing it can be to have someone challenge you and cause you to think, not just to agitate you, but because they do love you, and this story is that too me. Read the story here:

I’d love to hear back from others who have read the story and hear what you think. You can find the story here on my site, or you can read it for free on Kindle Unlimited, or purchase it for $0.99 on Amazon Kindle and read all my poems and short stories in the book Forever Striking a Crucified Pose.

Published by Chad Ard

Author, Editor

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