Ya-Te-Veo
Even as the sun vanishes behind the tall, impossibly green trees and the rainforest around me fades into darkness, the air feels unbearably hot. I can’t walk anymore tonight. I’ll have to find a place to sleep. The leather pouch that the mystic gave me just before I left the village hangs heavily from a loop on my belt, knocking against my leg softly with each step that I take. He insisted that I take the pouch, filled with crushed flowers and roots and soil, into the jungle with me so that I might be safe from danger. I agreed, partly to oblige him in whatever superstition he might be heeding, but also partly because the villagers here know more about these jungles than anyone. The concoction in this pouch may very well be a great bug repellent or emit a subtle odor which wards away any number of wild beasts. I’d ask the mystic exactly from what dangers this little leather bag is supposed to protect me, but I know that the stubborn old man would never tell me. I’ve spent enough time in that village to know that he is not one to explain himself. If I asked him to elaborate on the purpose of the bag, he’d only scoff at the fact that I’d be so insolent as to not trust his wisdom.
Ahead of me I notice a stout, leafless tree. The wide trunk stands perhaps five feet high and the branches all fan out from the top in nearly horizontal fashion, calling to mind a gigantic sea anemone. The fact that there are no leaves on any of its rough, jagged branches sets it quite noticeably apart from the lush green all around it. The night gets thicker with every passing moment, and the need to sleep is wearing on me more than ever, so I decide to make camp here. I manage to scramble up the side of the tree, sitting in the shallow bowl formed at the top of its trunk by the radially extending branches. This is the perfect place to rest for the night. I can set up my sleeping bag here and stay off the moist, insect-ridden ground. Being up off the ground also means that I won’t have to worry about being discovered by some big predator during the night. I’ve noticed some mangled animals around this area, and I definitely don’t want to meet whatever did that.
I sit in the slight depression at the center of the bowl of branches, and discover that although the rest of the tree is coarse and hard, the top of the trunk is porous and soft, almost spongy. It’s so comfortable I decide that I don’t even need my sleeping bag. Casting my backpack and shoes over the side of the tree, I curl up in the bowl and quickly fall asleep.
I wake up, refreshed and squinting into the sun that streams through the canopy. A small monkey scurries up the boughs of a nearby tree. It’s a tamarin, I think. It scrambles closer before coming to rest on a green branch which overhangs quite nearly where I’m sitting in my squat tree.
Suddenly and all at once, the stocky branches of my tree begin swaying in the still morning air. Their movement is slow, subtle, and almost serene. Without warning, the branch nearest the monkey sweeps upward with a sound like splitting wood. It catches the animal square in the chest, knocking the little creature skyward. The tamarin flies up perhaps six feet and then begins to fall. It looks as if it might land right in my lap, and in my shock all I can think to do is try to catch it. I ready my hands, but before the monkey reaches me, the tree’s branches all snap together over my head, catching the poor animal and crushing it from all sides. The sun is blotted out as I find myself in a cocoon of gnarled wood branches which have all come together to grasp the crushed tamarin. From the center of their union above my head, blood begins to seep and drip down. Pressing my back against the wall of branches in terror, I watch as the blood falls in drops, then as a single, steady rivulet into the center of the bowl at the top of the trunk. The spongy wood in this depression soaks up the blood as quickly as it falls, drinking it in greedily.
As the stream of blood turns back to a steady drip and then eventually stops, the branches begin to separate, letting the sun stream in once again. They return to their original positions and the crushed, bloody tamarin sticks, impaled, to one of the jagged branches until the tree shakes it off with a jerk of that limb. It hits the ground wetly and I suddenly realize what mangled those other animals that I had seen nearby.
I sit, motionless, for fear of alerting the tree to my presence. It is only after an hour that I find the courage to climb down and return to the village. It is only after I realize what allowed me to spend the night unharmed from this carnivorous monster that I am able to move. Looking at the leather pouch at my hip, I realize what dangers the mystic foresaw.
–
By David Feuling at http://www.ss-comic.com
(inspired by rumors of the “ya-te-veo” tree)
Oh my, this wasn’t creepy but was writen well.
Big vampire tree is creepy.
Not very creepy. But awesome.
For once, a pasta that made perfect sense.
I like this one.
REMEMBER, ONLY MY SECRET BLEND OF ELEVEN HERBS AND SPICES CAN KEEP YOU SAFE FROM THE PANGS OF HUNGER, BE THEY YOUR OWN OR THOSE OF A MURDEROUS TREE.
Quite an interesting read. Not too creepy but a good read.
i agree with lindarragner
it’s well-written, but it’s too long winded to be creepy. I feel that brevity really benefits creepypastas.
inspired by rumors? really? I think it might have helped the creepy factor if that was alluded to within the story. Without that, all you have is a badly written, non-creepy narrative with nothing to back it up. Cute concept though… poor monkey.
Kinda like the trees in Life of Pi.
Except 9000 times more dramatic.
Meh. Not really creppy.
very nice
Written decently, but where’s the creepiness?
Well-written, but not all that creepy. I like it anywyas.
Not bad, not really suspenseful, but eh.
why is there an old man standing near my face
that fuckin sucked.
as soon as you started describing the tree i thought “o fucking lame. the trees gonna turn out to be a monster”
Reminds me of the carnivorous plant-island in The Life of Pi. Only much better.
eh…its too long…I’ll read this later
Seems kinda boring…I might try to read it again later
Pro: Vampire tree with limb-mobility = creepy
Con: Poor style of execution and lack of finality make it long winded, boring, and thus not creepy
Better luck next time
Wasn’t really creepy, but I think it was awesome. Good story.
I liked it, wasn’t very creepy though, like everyone else has said.
Trees eat people.
OH NOEZ KILLER TREES!
Meh.
I actually like this one. Yeah, it isn’t overly creepy, but it’s an interesting concept that is described well.
i agree with pretty much everyone else.
it wasnt creepy, but well written.
I liked it, the ending made my heart race thinking “Here comes the gruesome ending of our narrator”
He’s right to caution you. I feed on children.
Poor Monkey!<:O
I agree with the “lack of finality” comment, it’s like he just jumps down and says “Well, that was odd!” and forgets about it.
I was reminded of the Womping Willow.
Not creepy, but I still liked it.
I liked it. Not too long and I could totally picture the tree and the scene. But what sort of an idiot climbs a tree and then throws down his backpack and SHOES before sleeping?
Oh, and who then was monkey?
BUT WHO WAS CRUSHED FLOWERS AND ROOTS AND SOIL?!!
This is a really good one. Not that creepy, but very well-written.
Assuming no one has explained what this pasta is about and I’m just not seeing them because their comment is awaiting approval: the Ya-Te-Veo is a legendary creature in the same vein as the loch ness monster or bigfoot. It’s basically a carnivorous tree and its name means “I see you”. Very cool to see creepypasta based on it, though.
more info here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-eating_tree
Winful. I once had a girlfriend who ate like that tree.. I like the way it was written, though it did seem to repeat some details.
tl;dr
would’nt ya-te-veo mean the i see you now tree? wtf?
I love it. There is not nearly enough carnivorous plants scenarios these days.
Can’t say I found something what could be called creepy, but interesting to read nevertheless.
This isn’t really pasta, it’s more like a well written ver short story. It’s still good, just not pasta.
i like the fact it was different but i have to admit i found it really boring.
Interesting? Yes.
Creepy? No.
Good, but not creepy. Man-eating tree, yay.
Eh…
It really wasn’t that creepy, like some people said. But it was a pretty damn good pasta.
TiVo? Yeh I got yo TiVo!
yeh!!
I like to read these and retell them to my cousins to scare the living shit outta them. They’re scared to go in the woods now. XD
Very nice and well-written.
Whomping Willow much?
I agree. Not exactly creepy, but awesome. Very well-written.
I wouldn’t eat this pasta again.
creepypastas are suppose to end with a paragraph/sentence/final relaization that makes your heart jump. This was good, but I just went ‘eh’ at the end.
I liked it.
I don’t care what any jerk above or below me says, but this is incredibally well written. It ties up nicely at the end, and IS food for thought, if you THINK about it.
Key word.
Think.
Things are not always what they seem, to sound cliché.
It’s a hidden creepy.
NIGGA TOOK MAH FUCKIN TAMARIN
I WILL KILL YOU.
Yes, your blood sustains me *Sip Sip, GULP* ahh, 85′, a good year…
made me think of the whomping willow from harry potter
Mhmm tastey monkey.
I liked it. It was quite interesting, and I could keep up with it easily.
It kind of reminded me of Sleepy Hollow. :L
Hotaru, shut the hell up. You have nothing better to do than go from pager to page trolling. You’re not funny, and you never were.
Interesting, but not creepy. Enjoyed it though.
It reminds me of The Day Of The Triffids. Good story though.
Fear the Darkness
-Nex
Bakwaas!!! Why did that tree spare you.
its a
ya te veo tree
Why would they have a blend? It makes more sense for the villagers to stay the fuck away from the tree
Not creepy, but definitely a good read.
The writing alone makes me feel like I’m in sweet heaven.
well, this doesn’t make me feel better about keeping corals that do basically the same thing.