Forests, code, and the space between them
I bonded with Fractal, a digital tree rooted deep in the Prime, instead of a larch like Mom wanted. This is where I write about forests, wildfire, and the code that keeps me connected to both.
I’m Sierra, a dryad (wu’asän in Dryadic) living in the modern human world. Dryads are tree spirits who manage the forests on behalf of Latñi Tsiloki (humans call her Gaia).
My mother is Latñi of the Pacific Northwest Dryad Grove and she expected me to bond with a larch like she did, or perhaps an oak like Grandmother. Instead, I bonded with Fractal, a digital tree rooted deep in the Prime. Mom was not impressed. She has never trusted humans, and she is terrified of fire and things made from fire, like electricity.
When wildfires raged across our forests, Mom rallied the dryads to save our trees and our homes. But it wasn’t enough.
It was up to me to confront not only the destructive forces of nature but also my fears of rejection by Mom, the other dryads, and my human friends, never mind the tension between tradition and innovation.
With the fate of my grove hanging in the balance, my book Digital Dryad describes my discovery of the true magic of connection in the digital age.
Fireworks, tow chains, even a lawnmower can all start fires.
By Jaysen Stanwood · August 26, 2026
Dryads live in the modern human world and connect with the plants and animals.
By Sierra Darroch · August 19, 2026
Some trees do not survive fire. They require it.
By Leticia Darroch · August 12, 2026A tree does not pump water. It pulls it—a continuous thread of water held under tension, running unbroken from the roots to the highest leaf. Pull too hard and the thread snaps. …
Pick a root and follow it down.
The novel
With the fate of my grove hanging in the balance, this is my discovery of the true magic of connection in the digital age.
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A free Digital Dryad short story
Winona has spent her entire life looking across the river at the land where humans chopped down her forest. So when beehives appear on that same bank, she knows exactly what it means: the dreaded honey mushroom.
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Tales from the Digital Dryad Universe
A collection of nine interconnected tales about dryads surviving in a world of wildfire, grief, and fiber optics. Paperback, Kindle ebook, and Kindle Unlimited.
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