literature

Winter Dryad

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While most of us normal, average humans tend to hole up for the winter, eat to our heart's fill of holiday treats, large bowls of hearty soup, enough birds to grow our own feathers; we tend to show it come spring. Our winter clothes feel tighter and our spring clothes don't fit the way they used to. We head out to work off these extra pounds, but lounging inside to avoid the outside winds, dampness, snow; our body has suffered from what I affectionately call 'winter atrophy'. Slow though we may be, we humans eventually get back into the active seasonal cycle.

The winter months aren't quite the same for that other race we dismiss so easily. Dryads, able to control flora to an extent; their winter 'hibernation' is different.
Dryads, like plants, thrive on sunlight. Keep them indoors too long, and they'll grow tired, weak, hungry. Leave them outside for an extended period, they may appear to have aged a bit. They will appear cheery, bright, enthusiastic, energetic. You may even find more plants around than had originally been; even dryads need an outlet for extra energy.
As the days grow shorter and sunlight lessens, they spend more time outdoors, rather than in as humans do, to soak up as much sunlight as they can. When finally, the first frost comes around; they take to plant nurseries and greenhouses, whether in their own homes or in stores, to absorb both heat and sunlight. On days when they are stuck inside their home; they tend to rest, be it sleeping, crafting, playing games, or the like.
While humans tend to gain some weight during the winter, this is the season dryads lose theirs. Having lessened energy, less nutrition from produce this time of year, they slowly lose whatever weight they have put on in the plentiful months.

Another reversal, for the winter season, is age. Age itself does not reverse, but dryads, compared to humans, have reverse age effects.
In humans, the young have the highest energy levels, and the elderly tend to have a harder time in the winter. The harsh weather is worse on the older humans due to various ailments, such as arthritis.
In the dryads, this is reversed; young dryads haven't had a chance to fully develop their immunity to frost, and become sick more easily than middle-aged dryads; while the elderly have stood strong, stood long. Very rarely do they grow sick or tired from the cold winter months; they have the best ability to weather it out and store the most energy.

Would you send a 80-year-old human man out to shovel snow? Of course not.
Would you send a 80-year-old dryad man out to shovel snow? No; but he would have more energy then a 25-year-old human male.
It came to mind, I wrote it down. Mhm.
© 2009 - 2024 Jyxxie
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