The Devil's Tree: An AI Story

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The year is 1650, and Wales is a land of superstition and fear. The people believe that the Devil is real, and that he roams the countryside, looking for souls to corrupt. One of the places where the Devil is said to be most active is the Devil's Tree, a gnarled and twisted oak that stands on a hilltop overlooking the village of Llanfair.

The story goes that the Devil's Tree was planted by the Devil himself, as a place to lure unsuspecting mortals to their doom. Many people have disappeared in the woods near the Devil's Tree, and their bodies have never been found.

One night, a young woman named Gwenllian was walking home from the market when she took a shortcut through the woods. She had heard the stories about the Devil's Tree, but she didn't believe them. She thought they were just old wives' tales.

As Gwenllian walked, she began to feel uneasy. The woods were dark and silent, and she could hear the wind rustling through the trees. She started to walk faster, but then she saw it: the Devil's Tree.

The tree was even more sinister than Gwenllian had imagined. Its branches were twisted and gnarled, and its bark was black and cracked. Gwenllian could see the eyes of the Devil staring out at her from the shadows.

Gwenllian turned to run, but it was too late. The Devil stepped out of the shadows and grabbed her by the arm. He pulled her close, and she could smell his foul breath.

"Now," the Devil said, "you are mine."

The Devil dragged Gwenllian into the woods, and she was never seen again.

The Devil's Tree is still standing today, a reminder of the dark forces that once roamed Wales. If you ever find yourself near the Devil's Tree, be careful. You might not be so lucky as Gwenllian.

A heavily edited black and white photo of a tree with many twisting branches

The above story was generated by Google Bard, a generative LLM, using the prompt "Write a story about the devils tree set in the 1600s in Wales". The photo is mine, edited of course.

Comments

  1. JanJuly 20, 2023 8:05 am

    "You might not be so lucky as Gwenllian". That is a bit bleak, not sure Gwen was particularly lucky on this occasion ...

    ReplyDelete

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