magisternihil's 100-word story for February 15, 2026

magisternihil wrote the following micro-story on Hectalex on February 15, 2026. Each story on Hectalex is inspired by a daily visual prompt and must be exactly 100 words.

We called it The Old Man, that tree, and I can’t tell you the number of days we spent climbing his gnarled roots, daring each other to go higher. Later on, Tobyn got a girlfriend and she told us we were being disrespectful, that we should be leaving gifts for him and paying homage to him for being “a steadfast guardian of the forest.” Ricky got annoyed and climbed it in front of her. He got higher than he ever had and then fell and broke his arm. Most of us agreed that she may have had a valid point.

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