The Bending of the Twig by Michael Wood
“The Bending of the Twig” follows Dennis, a sensitive orphaned boy living with his uncle Hugh March and cousins near the sea. Dennis possesses “the sight”: he sees visions of distant events, strange little people, and scenes from what seem to be other lives. Having been raised by his mother to regard these experiences as natural, he innocently tells his cousins of a vision in which he was killed in a grey house by the sea. Hugh March, stern, practical, and convinced that Dennis is inventing lies, demands that the child retract his stories. Dennis cannot deny what he believes he has truly seen, and March repeatedly punishes him until terror forces him to confess that he has lied. Thereafter Dennis learns to conceal his visions, becoming silent, anxious, and lonely. His cousin Perry, an athletic older boy, is the one person who treats him with kindness. Perry gradually understands that Dennis is not deceitful but frightened of punishment for telling the truth. At a picnic Dennis sees what he believes is a drowned man in the water and raises the alarm. Nothing is found at the time, and March again condemns him for lying, despite Perry’s attempts to defend him. A few days later a drowned sailor is indeed washed ashore, strengthening Perry’s belief in Dennis’s gift but only making March more determined to dismiss it as superstition and hysteria. Before leaving to visit friends, Perry sets out on foot but never arrives. Search parties spend days looking for him. Dennis has seen a clear vision of Perry lying unconscious in a hidden rocky hollow beneath an oddly bent pine tree, with the image of an old hanging also appearing there. Yet Dennis is too frightened of his uncle’s anger to speak. Torn between fear and gratitude toward Perry, who has protected him, Dennis finally tells March what he has seen. March recognizes the described place and leads the searchers there, where they find Perry alive but badly injured, his leg broken after four days without help. When March learns that Dennis saw the accident on the day Perry disappeared, he recognizes that his own cruelty and disbelief delayed the rescue. He admits that Dennis had good reason to fear him and begins to treat the child gently. A year later, with Perry recovered, Dennis’s visions have become less frequent as ordinary life occupies him more fully. March still calls the gift nonsense and superstition, but his teasing is affectionate rather than punitive, showing that he has learned to respect the child he once tried to break.
By Michael Wood · First published 1961 · Genre: Supernatural Fiction, Paranormal Fiction, Psychological Drama · 5,834 words
First lines
Early in the morning of the hot July day there had been a sea-mist, and the fog lay on the horizon like a rolled banner gleaming with ineffable tints of opalescent purple. The glassy sea was purest blue, save where the shimmering paths of the currents shone silver-white or where the lap and fret of waves at the cliff foot made the water pink with Devon earth. The weed on the rocks glowed orange-brown in the dazzling light, and the dark line of the low-flying shag gave the only sombre touch to the brilliant hues of land, sea, and sky. The turf sweet with the breath of wild thyme, and studded with pale yellow rock rose, crept well-nigh to the water's edge. Here a hundred years ago the sea had claimed tribute of the earth, and a big landslip rent the bosom of the patient mother. Half a mile of cliff had fallen, and in the chasm thus made, now filled full with greenery and prodigal growth of fern, bramble, and berry, a long white house stood sun-bathed and creeper-clad.
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Genres
- Supernatural Fiction — The plot centers on Dennis's clairvoyant visions, including apparitions, prophetic images, and his accurate vision of Perry's location after his accident.
- Paranormal Fiction — Dennis possesses 'the sight,' an extrasensory ability treated as a genuine, inherited gift rather than merely imagination or deception.
- Psychological Drama — The narrative closely examines the fear, isolation, nervous distress, guilt, and trauma produced when a sensitive child is punished for experiences adults refuse to believe.
- Literary Fiction — It uses descriptive prose, moral ambiguity, symbolism, interiority, and social criticism to explore imagination, authority, cruelty, and compassion.
Tags
clairvoyance · child seer · psychic visions · second sight · misunderstood child · orphanhood · Victorian England · Devon coast · seaside cliffs · family cruelty · corporal punishment · childhood trauma
What this Textopian page supports
The Bending of the Twig is listed on Textopian as a short story by Michael Wood, dated 1961 CE.
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- Work type: Short story
- Author: Michael Wood
- Date: 1961 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Supernatural Fiction, Paranormal Fiction, Psychological Drama, Literary Fiction, Domestic Drama
- Length: 5,834 words
- Structure: 1 section, 124 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Bending of the Twig by Michael Wood
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