Work Text:
“Oh, please, protectors of the apple trees, help me...”
The woman kneeled in front of one of her apple trees. She had put a basket filled with her best apples, hoping to appease the dryads who protected the trees.
Fran, the demon, walked on the scene. The shiny red apples had caught his attention and made him hungry. He was also curious to know why that woman was trying to summon dryads.
“Oi! I’m here.” He called.
The woman looked at his direction with wide eyes, instantly noticing Fran’s huge apple hat.
“Are you a dryad?” She asked.
“Yep. What happened?”
The woman was uncertain of the truth of Fran’s words. She always had heard about how fluffy and white the hair of the protectors of the apple trees was.
She pushed always her uncertainty and explained to him what had happened. Birds had been attacking her precious apple trees and she barely had been able to harvest any fruit. The apples on the basket were all that she had at the moment.
“Oh… I see. Well, I can help you.”
“You can?!” The woman said and her eyes shone with hope.
“Yes, I’ll just need all the apples that are on this basket…” He started.
The woman nodded vigorously.
“And your soul.” He concluded.
The woman froze with her eyes wide and mouth open.
“I’m joking.” Fran said after a moment. “I just need the apples.”
The woman breathed relieved and gave him the basket. After looking more closely at them, Fran concluded that they really were looking good.
“Okay.” He said putting the basket on the ground again.
He raised his arms and solemnly said “May the birds never again harm the apples that grow on these trees.”
The woman was surprised that nothing had happened.
“You’re sure that this will work?” She asked him.
“Do you doubt a dryad?” Fran said getting the basket from the ground and turning to leave.
“No! No! It’s just…” The woman tried saying but Fran disappeared.
Half an hour later, the birds started flying around the apple trees. The poor woman watched with worry.
“Oh protector of the trees, please…” The woman said holding her hands in prayer.
One of the birds dived on the trees and disappeared. The woman didn’t see what happened to it.
She ran nearer to the trees and what she saw left her in shock. The apples on the trees now had mouths with many teeth and ate any bird that got near them.
Fran bit an apple and watched the scene sitting on the higher branch of a tree near the orchard.
“Wow, they sure look hungry.”