The Little Tree
The simple story of a little tree.
It is dedicated to Anais
Once upon a time there was a tree. It was not a big tree, but it did live on a nice spot, up on the side of a hill looking down a valley to the ocean.
Every year the tree would watch as the seasons came and went. From hot summers where the insects swarmed and lighting storms raged off the coast. To autumn days where the air was so clean and cool that it tingled against the trees bark and leaves. Then winter would come and the grass on the hillside would dry off and go brown and crackly. The wind would howl from the south making the tree’s branches shake and shiver. Spring would eventually come and the little tree would observe, as the grass around him burst back into life and the wind would start to feel warm again.
As the years went by the little tree grew. It’s branches slowly reached for the sky and while sometimes storms or big winds would shake the tree and break its branches, the tree continued to grow and strengthen its hold onto the hillside. The tree was like the village down the valley, it had not always been as it was now. The village had grown bigger just like the tree.
One day a family came and sat under the tree. The tree was now quite old and had seen many changes over the years. The tree watched as the family ate their picnic.
The family sat on a picnic rug and ate sandwiches while the tree swayed above them in the breeze. The young boy and his sister ran up and down the hillside while the parents watched and smiled. They took some photos and then snoozed under the tree.
Some clouds began to develop to the south and as the breeze strengthened the family packed up and headed for home. The rain started. The tree waited in the field for the rain to stop. It would not stop for five days.
On the first day in the rain the water soaked the tree and into the bark.
On the second day in the rain the branches were heavy with water and the wind began to blow.
On the third day some of the tree’s branches broke and fell to the ground. The tree wondered if it was getting too old to take much of this anymore.
On the fourth day the ground around the tree was becoming so wet that the tree was starting to lean under the weight of it’s branches.
Then after five days of rain the tree relented and fell to the ground pulling its roots from the ground. As it lay there the tree thought how lucky it had been to live where it had lived for its life.
The next day the sun came out again. The same family came back to play again in the sun. They were surprised to see that the tree had fallen. The father said he would come back and cut up the tree for firewood. The little girl cried.
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