The Tree

Once upon a time, there was a Girl who lived with her family in a beautiful cottage in an enchanted forest. All around this cottage were trees who whispered the names and secrets of God. Each night as the Girl laid her head on her downy pillow, she followed her dreams into a land more magical than the one she lived in.

The Father was the tender of the trees and there was one sapling especially that required extra care right from the first moment its roots were sunk into the rich soil of the forest. It was a wispy Tree, lacking the luster of the floral laden branches of the Magnolia trees, or the promising strength and endurance of the towering Oaks in whose shade it was planted. But the Tree, in spite of its frailty, had unusual characteristics that made the Father pay closer attention to this one than all the others.

The Mother noticed this Tree one day as she was meandering down the path in search of blackberries. Seeing her husband kneeling by the Tree, cultivating the soil around the roots, she saw it literally begin to sprout buds before her eyes. Upon closer inspection, it seemed the buds were little eyes that winked and sparkled with secrets too ancient for its young life. She mentioned this to her husband who nodded in reply and kept mulching the virgin earth, adding a fistful of compost every once in a while.

Time passed and with the Father’s encouraging touch and gentle pruning, the wispy Tree lost its wispiness and began pushing its limbs skyward even as its roots sank deeper into the forest floor. The whisperings of the tall oaks caressed its branches each night as its leaves shivered in anticipation of the day when it too would be able to reveal the magic hidden inside when the Father planted it in this forest.

Storms came to the enchanted forest from time to time and one particularly dark and evil tempest threatened to uproot the Tree and send it flying over the tops of the whispering oaks. While the storm was intense and frightening, it was not nearly as disconcerting as the eerie stillness that came later. The Tree felt a spiny finger tracing the outline of several branches, leaving a trail of poisonous words that began eating through its still-tender bark. The Tree looked at the words and became confused. Soon it could no longer hear the whisperings of the tall Oaks or smell the fragrance of the Magnolias as all its energy was being used to decipher the evil letters that had by now covered two of its limbs.

One morning the Girl awakened and remembered something she had seen in the land of her dreams. She dashed out of the cottage and headed down the path towards the not-so-wispy Tree. It stood there in the half-light of morning, two of its branches drooping slightly at its side. Gently the Girl touched the branches and noticed the scrawling letters carved into the bark. Insects had gathered and were clustering around the exposed cambiun layer, causing even greater discomfort to the Tree. As the girl pondered the evil words, they filled her heart with dread. She knew the words were from the Enemy of the forest and would need to be removed before they spread throughout the Tree and caused it to die.

She went in search of her Father, who left his forest tending duties immediately to come to the aid of his special Tree. He pulled a pruning tool from the leather pouch around his waist and swiftly cut off the graffiti-lined branches. He put salve on the wounds where the cut had been made, then knelt to cultivate the soil once again around the roots. As he did this, a miraculous thing happened.

If the Girl would not have been watching, she would not have believed it if someone told her. But as it was, she happened to be the first one to see the tree demonstrate its magic. Little buds began bursting across all the remaining branches of the tree. As the buds popped to the surface, they opened up gently to reveal pools of shimmering gold. The gold spilled from the buds, weaving their way along the branches until the whole tree was covered with a glorious shining of extraordinary luster.

The Father noticed the shining, too, from his place on the forest floor as little drops of gold began to spill around his knees. He looked up at the tree in wonder as the gold began to form words. The Girl stood on tiptoe to read the glorious script that was starting to emerge. It was just like her dream! The secrets of God were written on the branches for everyone in the forest to see!

As for the Tree, even as the gold covered its bark, it grew larger and stronger and taller than it would ever have imagined. And now it knew its purpose! It was to write the secrets of God that the tall Oaks whispered during the night. It was to describe the fragrance of the Magnolias. It was to invite others into this magical place to sit in the shade of its nurturing branches as the lifegiving words caused their dreams to become real.

And the Girl lived in the shade of the tree, her heart illuminated by the golden words dropping from its canopy.