had fascinated me, in the nicest possible way; she had shown me her beauty, and I was destined to remember her, as she had said, for the rest of my life.
Time passed, and I became a man. I was, as I had expected, handsome, and the girls did flock around me. But the memory of the girl in the wood made all of them uninteresting. Not one of them came close to matching Desiree. None of them possessed that first wild beauty that only I could see. It was as if the dryad's face was superimposed on the face of any girl I saw, a model for comparison representing perfection, and in each case the mortal face deviated and was imperfect. The same was true of their bodies; all seemed gross and unfinished, like sculptures that had been done by an unskilled artisan. They turned me off. So while I would have liked to marry, I just could not; I did not even want to touch any ordinary girl.
As time passed, my mother and sister became concerned. My mother tried to be delicate about her concern, but my sister Lacuna was blunt: a line of print appeared on the table before me. DON'T YOU LIKE GIRLS?
That was the question. "I like one girl," I told them. "I just can't find her."
Then they had the story from me. My mother was appalled. "A dryad! How could you?"
"I didn't know it was going to happen," I said. "She was just a woman to me, an adult, treating me like a child. She asked me what I was going to do with my life when I grew up, and I told her, and she flashed her beauty at me and vanished."
"You told her about your low opinion of women," my sister said accusingly. "That all we're good for us to wash dishes and clean house."
"Well, sure. It's true, isn't it?"
Millie and Lacuna exchanged a glance that was almost two and a half glances long. Then my sister resumed. "So she decided that maybe you weren't going to be Xanth's gift to womankind, so you shouldn't marry, so she saw to it that you wouldn't. And you aren't."
I began to understand. Desiree was, for all her nymphly nature, a woman. "Then I guess I'm doomed to bachelorhood," I said. "Because there isn't any mortal woman I want to marry." But by this point I wished that Desiree had never looked at me that way, flashing her loveliness. She had, indeed, doomed any future romance I might otherwise have had. No mortal woman would have to suffer through my attitude.
Millie sighed. "There seems to be no help for it. You will simply have to find her."
How much I would like to do that! "But how? I can't find the path!"
"And it's no good searching for every acom tree in Xanth," Lacuna said. "You could go right by it and never see her, because she wouldn't show herself."
"But I looked carefully at her tree," I protested. "I would know it if I saw it. And I know the general area. It's southeast of here, the distance Doofus can go in a run."
"Then perhaps there is a chance. Ride Doofus there, then grow some ears and eyes and make them tell you what they have heard and seen."
"I never thought of that!" I exclaimed.
"Because she didn't want you to," Lacuna said. "She wanted you to remember her, but not where she was. But now time has passed and the peripheral magic is wearing off, so you have a notion. But she still may not show herself if you do locate her tree."
"If I found the tree, I'd just go there and beg her to join me," I said. "She'd have to listen."
"And if she didn't," Lacuna said wickedly, "you could threaten to chop down her tree."
I felt as if a shaft had pierced my heart. "Oh, no, I could never do that! I could never hurt her. I love her!"
"I didn't say to do it," she retorted. "I said to threaten to. To make her appear."
"I couldn't even threaten her," I said, still feeling pained.
"Very well, no threats," Millie said decisively. "But you can at least try to
Time passed, and I became a man. I was, as I had expected, handsome, and the girls did flock around me. But the memory of the girl in the wood made all of them uninteresting. Not one of them came close to matching Desiree. None of them possessed that first wild beauty that only I could see. It was as if the dryad's face was superimposed on the face of any girl I saw, a model for comparison representing perfection, and in each case the mortal face deviated and was imperfect. The same was true of their bodies; all seemed gross and unfinished, like sculptures that had been done by an unskilled artisan. They turned me off. So while I would have liked to marry, I just could not; I did not even want to touch any ordinary girl.
As time passed, my mother and sister became concerned. My mother tried to be delicate about her concern, but my sister Lacuna was blunt: a line of print appeared on the table before me. DON'T YOU LIKE GIRLS?
That was the question. "I like one girl," I told them. "I just can't find her."
Then they had the story from me. My mother was appalled. "A dryad! How could you?"
"I didn't know it was going to happen," I said. "She was just a woman to me, an adult, treating me like a child. She asked me what I was going to do with my life when I grew up, and I told her, and she flashed her beauty at me and vanished."
"You told her about your low opinion of women," my sister said accusingly. "That all we're good for us to wash dishes and clean house."
"Well, sure. It's true, isn't it?"
Millie and Lacuna exchanged a glance that was almost two and a half glances long. Then my sister resumed. "So she decided that maybe you weren't going to be Xanth's gift to womankind, so you shouldn't marry, so she saw to it that you wouldn't. And you aren't."
I began to understand. Desiree was, for all her nymphly nature, a woman. "Then I guess I'm doomed to bachelorhood," I said. "Because there isn't any mortal woman I want to marry." But by this point I wished that Desiree had never looked at me that way, flashing her loveliness. She had, indeed, doomed any future romance I might otherwise have had. No mortal woman would have to suffer through my attitude.
Millie sighed. "There seems to be no help for it. You will simply have to find her."
How much I would like to do that! "But how? I can't find the path!"
"And it's no good searching for every acom tree in Xanth," Lacuna said. "You could go right by it and never see her, because she wouldn't show herself."
"But I looked carefully at her tree," I protested. "I would know it if I saw it. And I know the general area. It's southeast of here, the distance Doofus can go in a run."
"Then perhaps there is a chance. Ride Doofus there, then grow some ears and eyes and make them tell you what they have heard and seen."
"I never thought of that!" I exclaimed.
"Because she didn't want you to," Lacuna said. "She wanted you to remember her, but not where she was. But now time has passed and the peripheral magic is wearing off, so you have a notion. But she still may not show herself if you do locate her tree."
"If I found the tree, I'd just go there and beg her to join me," I said. "She'd have to listen."
"And if she didn't," Lacuna said wickedly, "you could threaten to chop down her tree."
I felt as if a shaft had pierced my heart. "Oh, no, I could never do that! I could never hurt her. I love her!"
"I didn't say to do it," she retorted. "I said to threaten to. To make her appear."
"I couldn't even threaten her," I said, still feeling pained.
"Very well, no threats," Millie said decisively. "But you can at least try to
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