If the World Was a Forest

     If the world was a forest, there would be trees.  Some would be tall, some would be short, and some would be in the middle.  There would be smooth trees, rough trees, young trees, old trees, a million different kinds of trees, yet they would all find their place in the forest.  But not all of the trees liked each other, and would try to cut each other down.  When this started, the sky would screech with falling trees.  And every time it happened, harsher, more sinister ways of toppling trees would be invented, so as to cut down as many as possible.  But when life calmed down, the trees would find happiness and peace together.  Some would intertwine their branches, and bestow saplings into the earth.  Some would live alone forever, but they would still find happiness in their own ways.  Trees would even find duties to do in the forest.  Some would invent things, like leaf trimmers, or some might become entertainers, to relieve the stress of the other trees around them.  But there were always the special trees, the ones so tall, every plant in the forest knew their name and looked up to them.  The enjoyed the best sunshine, and the purest rainwater.  Becoming a special tree was a goal of almost every plant in the forest, from the tallest trees to smallest saplings, they were world-renowned.

     Some trees, the ones with the most knowledge in the whole forest, sought out to spread their knowledge to the whole forest: and it was them that educated the young saplings and nurtured them into becoming smart and reasonable trees when they grew up.  But learning in the forest is not always easy.  Not all of the students are kind, or willing to learn.  Their are the cobras, the kings and queens of the social hierarchy in the learning places.  They pretend to be special trees, but in reality there are almost nothing.  The cobras know this, and are infuriated by it.  So, they take out their anger on all below them, and in doing so, trample many saplings as to push themselves up.  On the backs of the cobras, there are the vipers.  They use the cobras to get higher in the social order themselves, and will often cause trouble with the cobra their riding on in order to become cobras themselves.  Unfortunately, cobras are rare, and becoming one is difficult.  Rarely can anyone become a cobra by being nice, so the vipers take their anger out on everything below them in the social order, as well.  As you can imagine, this causes trouble for everything below vipers and cobras, and many will try to avoid that. 

     Some saplings will become mushrooms, and ride on the backs of the vipers.  The mushrooms will suck all the needed social power from their "host" viper, and then move on.   A mushroom's biggest fear is losing their social power, and will always be looking for ways to obtain some.  Becoming a mushroom is a blow to your friends, because when a sapling becomes a mushroom, it says that they value meaningless power over their life long friends.  Sadly, many saplings become mushrooms anyways.  The social heirarchy in the learning places is horrible, as it puts insults and cruelty over friendship, which is something that is truly saddening.

     But there is hope in these learning places.  There are gardens, that are on the very end of the social order, but the gardens don't mind.  In the gardens, there are no vipers or cobras or mushrooms, only saplings and flowers that are friends.  Some saplings will make many friends and invite more plants into the gardens, or connect two separate ones through their friends in each one.  There is always happiness in the gardens, and there will always be people to welcome in new plants. 

     Of course, there are garden-like groups with the cobras, the viper, and the mushrooms too.  The mushrooms will form small clusters of two or three on the backs of their host vipers, and together they will leech popularity out that single viper, and then move on.  Vipers will form packs, and together they will go around trampling saplings underfoot, or trying to at least.  These packs often have many clusters hanging around them, and it is a breeding ground for mushrooms.  The cobras will often be the leaders of the packs, but they will lead alone, as cobras are rare creatures.  Once in a while two groups will clash, and it will create turmoil for all the creatures in the learning places.

     The trees wil try to intervene in these clashes, and in the whole social heirarchy itself.  These interferences are often futile, and only enrage the vipers further.  Rarely do they ever stop a viper, but when it does, it strikes a blow in the packs and reverts many mushrooms back into saplings.  Unfortunately, musghrooms are rarely excepted back, unless they somehow retained close ties to their sapling friends.  But the social heirarchy doesn't originate in the learning places, it starts in the trees.

     Often, trees will separate their branches, and throw their saplings into a state of confusion.  The viper qualities grow from then on.  Some saplings will stay the same, but many will be filled with rage, and take it out on their fellow garden dwellers.  Often times they will leave the garden forever, and quickly climb the scoial order and claim there place as a full-fledged viper.  This wounds the garden the viper came from, and for days it will wilt, without a plant to fill the now vacant spot in the garden.  But, life will move on, and the garden will slowly return back to it's original state, but it will take in new plants even slower, barring itself of from the world for a while.  Whenever a viper grows, it a leaves behind a path of destruction which damages the spirit of the bottom of the social ladder, and opens it up to even worse treatment by the vipers.

     There is even a social heirarchy among the trees.  Day in and day out, trees do all kinds of jobs, like creating rare things that will be sent throughout the forest, digging their roots deep into the soil to find rare atones, or just writing things on leaf-paper for their bosses, the taller trees.  When times get tough, the taller trees will stop having their worker trees work, and it will damage the entire forest.  The can lead to many separated trees, and even more vipers.  Some trees will drink or do horrible things, and they will die earlier than most.  It's sad, but that is the way the forest works.

     There is a good thought though.  When the saplings grow up, many vipers and cobras are destroyed, as they no longer have any social power.  They will end up leading horrible lives in the forest.  What used to be their source of power is now full fledged trees, who don't care about the vipers anymore.  Similar things will happen to the mushrooms, as they have no one to suck power from anymore.  They will have somewhat better lives than vipers, but not by much.  The saplings that never left their respective garden will be the most successful, and may even become special trees.  It is the way the forest says" The good are rewarded, the bad are punished."  It's a forest-wide filter that pushes down the bad and let the good shine among fellow good saplings.

     While I have never experienced the bad things of the forest firsthand, I know they exist.  I myself ventured out of the garden, and it sucked.  Mushrooms and vipers and cobras are awful people, and they are nothing but things to be ignored.  I learned that the hard way, but now I know.  Vipers are horrid people that are trying not to give in to their own selves.  They are mad at themselves, not you, and they will do anything to make themselves feel better.  The are black holes sustained only but making others feel bad: at any moment could they collapse in on themselves.  Life is harsh if you want to be a viper, especially if the forest has dealt you a bad hand.  Life will not always work out, but it will go on. I know how it feels, and I'm grateful that I was given a good hand, with loving trees and great sapling friends.  But I know how sucky life can get sometimes and it's can really stink. But always remember, life can always get better, even if it seems to stink.  So I will leave this here, in hopes that the entire forest can read it one day. And my last words will be this: If life has you down, and you like you're nothing better than dirt, remember this:  You will always be welcome in my garden.