Maybe 10 feet away was something that looked like a gnarled black branch.

He spoke, looking past me at the wall with the black branches and red cups of the quince.

Beyond the bare, black branches of the trees, the sky was a harsh and brilliant blue.

The sky between the black branches of the oak was lavender-blue.

The leaves lost their bright colors and fell to the ground, leaving behind black, skeletal branches.

And they were both gone in a swirl of red water and black branches.

The moon came up soon, and shone down through the black branches of the trees above.

There were slick black branches just below the surface.

One branch, black and thick, cut across the sky, only a little above his head height.

He looked up into the network of black branches.