The Princess and the tree

Once upon a time there was a lonely apple tree in the middle of a beautiful garden that belong to the royal palace of a faraway kingdom.

The tree was young, but he was far away from the palace, from the rest of the trees and the people that lived and worked there. The tree was neglected and even though it was still alive and healthy, it wasn't growing or giving any fruit.

One day, the beautiful young princess was playing in the garden and came across the tree. She didn't think much of the tree as she played around it, ignoring it. It was a hot summer day, and the princess was tired from playing so much so she decided to rest against the lonely tree. The tree gave her shade which was exactly what she needed before walking all the way back to the palace, which was a long way away.

"Thank you Mr Tree" she said to the tree "This shade was exactly what I needed"

The tree, being a tree, was unable to talk but felt happy he finally had some company. Apart from the occasional bird that landed on it to get some rest, the tree had very little company.

"I had not noticed you before. You are far away from everything, from the other trees, from the palace. You are all alone. I will keep you company everyday"

And so, she did. Everyday the princess would come see the tree after her princess duties. She ate with it, enjoyed its shade, told it about her day. The tree felt love he had not felt since it was planted so it started growing big and strong. It even started growing apples. The most beautiful and delicious apples in the kingdom and they were all for the princess to enjoy. The tree did not want it any other way.

When the tree had grown big enough, the princess carved a heart on its trunk which represented their love and friendship.

One day, the princess did not have a good day and went to sit by her favourite tree, but she was in a bad mood. The princess, although beautiful, was also spoilt and when things didn't go her way, she took it on the people and things around her. She sat by the tree, not talking, just sulking. The tree knew she was that way but it didn't care. It loved her anyway. All it asked in return for providing shade and delicious apples, was her love. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind came which pushed the tree branches causing an apple to fall on the princess head, it really hurt her. The princess was so annoyed, she grabbed the apple and chucked it at the tree.

"Stupid tree!" She said, "apologise for your mistake!" She kicked it and left angrily.

The tree was sorry, it didn't mean to make that mistake. The princess had been upset, and it was busy providing shade to try to make her feel better, it didn't notice when the wind came and made the apple fall. The tree was unable to talk so it couldn't apologise the way the princess wanted it to apologise. The princess came back a few minutes later, which made the tree happy for a little while until it saw that the princess was carrying an axe.

"Every time I remember you hurt me, I will hit you with this axe" the spoiled princess said to the tree and hit it with it. Right on the heart she once carved on the tree trunk. The tree just took it. It was sorry for hurting the princess.

Many days went by, and the princess was back being nice to the tree and they had many beautiful days. The tree still grew strong and gave the best apples. But the princess always had in the back of her mind that the tree had hurt her so she always brought an umbrella just in case and the axe. Most days were good but some days the princess would hit the tree with an axe, and she would not eat the delicious apples the tree was making for her with all its love. Eventually, the princess stopped accepting the apples the tree was giving and many days she would hit it with the axe on the exact same spot. Right on the heart.

The tree stopped growing but still did its best to give shade and protection to the princess when she came visit. She kept rejecting the apples though, she sometimes would kick them away, sometimes she would through them straight in the trash because even if she wasn't eating the apples, she did not want other animals to have them either.

The apple tree kept giving her apples but the lack of love and the continuous hits with the axe made the tree overwhelmed with sadness and eventually the apples started losing their flavour, they became smaller and smaller and ultimately, there were no more apples. Some birds and animals came to eat them sometimes but the person the tree was making the apples for was not, so there was no point giving apples anymore. The tree started getting weaker and weaker as the hits with the axe kept coming. The princess didn't even notice there were no more apples. The princess even stopped visiting the tree every day and when she did, it was only to hit it on the heart with the axe. She even came to see the tree once holding an apple that she had grabbed from a basket in the kitchen and even though the apple was uglier and smaller she ate it right in front of the lonely tree. The tree didn't know what hurt more that day, the hit from the axe or the fact she decided to eat an apple from a different tree.

So, what happens when you hit a tree on the same spot several times with an axe? The tree could not stand anymore, and finally, on a windy cold night, a storm came, and the tree could not bare it anymore, the storm pushed it and the tree fell. The tree broke right in the middle of the heart the princess carved on it one day. So, there it laid while the stormed hit it, on the ground, cold, all alone.

One day, the princess was playing in the garden and was tired, hungry, and remembered that her favourite tree always gave her the best shade and the best apples when she needed. When she went there, she saw that the tree was on the ground, alone, there were apple leftovers that had been eaten by animals and the princess was sad.

"Oh no! My tree!" she exclaimed "I hit it too many times and now there are no more apples and no more tree" She cried; she wanted her tree back but now it was too late.

"If you hadn't hit me with that apple that day, I wouldn't have hit you with the axe so many times. It's your fault" The princess covered her face and cried. She wanted her tree back. She craved the flavour of the apples it gave her but now there were no more apples. She remembered how her love had made the tree strong, so she started looking after that bottom part of the tree that was left still on the ground. She realised how much she loved the tree and wanted it back, wanted the apples, wanted the shade, so she came back everyday to give what the tree always needed so she could have back everything that she took for granted again.

After a while, the tree felt the love once again and sprouted one leaf on right on the centre of what was left of it. They princess saw that and felt hopeful, but she wanted the apples and the shade right now. She was impatient, she just wanted the tree to be what it was when she was getting all that she needed without realising it. But it wasn't as easy. It only had the bottom half of the heart she carved on it and to be able to make the heart whole again, the tree would need to regrow again and that would take some time.