Pouring Out
When the first swing connected to the tree, a vile liquid immediately began to splash out and onto the ground.
The second swing made it pour out. He was nearly through the entire trunk when a new mystery appeared. He found a strange object that wouldn't usually be found living in a tree.
Plot Of Land
Marcus put all of his pride and attention in his large plot of land. He loved it, if he could, he would spend all of his time in it.
His children had plenty of space to play and run around in, and him and his wife were enjoying their time working and exploring in their vegetable garden. But he would soon discover that owning this large piece of land would bring its own set of problems. It all started with a tiny creature.
Nature Lover
Marcus kept a small stretch of grass by their back patio, but he let everything else grow widely and naturally. He loved nature, he loved the sound of the wind rattling the pines and he adored the smell of autumn leaves.
But one day, he noticed something wasn't right.
Nest Of Pests
What he spotted was dangling from a single thread as it swayed lightly in the cold wind.
He hated watching its body move as its stumpy legs wiggled around. He slowly and carefully followed the thread until it lead him to a cluster of these pests. He was disgusted by the tent caterpillars that had made their own silken nest between the branches of an old tree.
Dangerous
Most people that have lived in nature know exactly how horrible these little worms can be.
They will eat any scrap of leaf they can possibly find, and sometimes, they will damage and even kill trees. To top it all off, they also spread fast. As soon as he saw them, he rushed for his garden shed.
Sick Tree
He hated using chemical bug killers, he knew it was dangerous for his children, but right now, he didn't have any other choice. He walked through the forest and made sure to kill as many of the worms as he possibly could.
That was when he saw one sick looking tree. His eyes widened when he saw a strange substances oozing from its bark. He had never seen this before. What had these little worms done?!
Slimly And Smelly
The liquid definitely wasn't tree sap, it smelled horrible, and it was slimy.
What a disaster! He had never seen this before, so he had no clue what he was supposed to do. What made it worse was that the sickness had infected the entire tree. There was no saving it. He decided that it was best to cut the tree down. But he didn't know what secrets he would find inside.
Grabbed His Axe
His kids followed after him when they noticed him grabbing his axe. Usually he would only use it to collect wood for a bonfire.
He told them what he was actually doing, but they still wanted to join him. Marcus made sure the kids were a safe distance away from the tree before he started swinging at it.
Nauseous
The first time the axe hit the tree, horribly smelly water began to spray from it.
With the next hit, a much bigger stream started oozing from the trunk. There was now a brown liquid pouring from the tree like water from a tap. The entire area surrounding him began to stink. The smell made him want to throw up.
Infection
The kids started running to escape from the brown liquid and the horrible smell.
That was when he started wondering if the liquid could infect other trees too. Could this happen to his entire forest? He immediately pulled his phone from his pocket.
Oops, Should Have Left It
Marcus cursed under his breath – apparently, he should have left it alone and it would have been fine.
But it was too late, the tree had to come down, he would have to keep an eye on its healthy neighbors and tell the homes around him to be careful as well (like a nature quarantine). But before he took the next swing, he spotted something odd in the hollow trunk.
Another Surprise
The white orb was the last thing he would have ever expect to find in the area.
He swung until he finally got through the trunk and the forest echoed with the sound of cracking wood and breaking branches. He pulled out his phone to take a photo. No one was going to believe this.
It was a golf ball!
But without any golf courses in the area – now or in the past (at least as far as he knew) – how did it get in there? Maybe a sports enthusiast had lived there before and used the lot as a practice range? Maybe it was just someone messing around?
Either way, it was an interesting find.
Showing The World
Of course, even if it was clean, he wasn’t going to let his kids play with it since it had been sitting the sludgy liquid for who knows how long.
But he did post the event on social media. The response was surprising overwhelming. There were your standard “fakes” and trolls, but many people put forth some useful wisdom.
Funny Memory
Horticulturists around the world gave him advice on how to keep the “heart rot” from affecting the rest of the forest.
It was a funny little story he would be able to tell his friends in the future – and he would keep the golf ball as funny proof – just in the shed, away from the kids.