The Baseball Card & Other Short Stories

Lune's Tree

Far ahead of our current years, the human population is much less, allowing the beauty of nature with a lesser amount of its greatest threat to flourish and grow. This is where a small village, entitled "Castellarbor", has been born, and has taken its sweet time sprouting from a seedling of the human race.

In Castellarbor, trees are abundant, and provide housing for its thin, dexterous residents. They build their abodes high up in the branches, for they are light enough to get precariously near the top. This creates a place safe from predators for these peaceful people.

One girl in particular kept a very close eye on her tree. It was marked with the symbols of her family, but now only her older brother remained to protect her. She didn't really need him to protect her, but took solace in his constant presence all the same. His name was Soleil.

Soleil was called out one afternoon by the village leader. Because of his skill, he was going with the rest of the strong men to find new land. The village had become hungry, for their vegetation supply was running low. Lune did not like seeing him go, for two reasons. One, this meant that she'd be away from her brother for an unsettled amount of time, and she did not like being away from her only family. Two, this also meant that she'd have to stay with a different family while she waited for him to come back; she was too young to keep watch over the tree herself.

Lune was dropped into a family she'd never met before; one with a smaller tree, not as ancient as her own, two daughters of a similar age to her own,  a kind mother, and a caring father. They were nice people, Lune decided, but they weren't her brother.

And this wasn't her tree.

A terrible storm brewed late one evening, so late it was already quite dark. Thunder crashed in the sky, and lighting struck the ground in brilliant flashes of white. Lune cried out, fearing for all the tress, and what would happen to the people inside if the blazing streaks touched them. Ruby, one of the girls, had heard her cry and came to help her. They sat at the very edge of the house, dangling their legs off the dangerous ledge. They watched the lightning and cringed at the thunder together. Then the unthinkable happened:

The blazing streaks touched Lune's tree.

Lune screamed in despair, watching the flames erupt but quickly die, having been smothered by the rain. She wanted so desperately to race back to her tree, as though doing so would bring it back from death. She felt as though she was losing her family again. Ruby gently put her arm around Lune, trying to reassure her. Lune was grateful for her efforts, but they wouldn't work. The tree that had held the symbols of her parents, her grandparents, her entire ancestry, was now gone, felled by foul lightning. Only her brother remained, but she had no idea where he was or when he'd be back, so that thought brought her little solace.

That night, Lune did not sleep. Long after Ruby had returned to bed, long after the storm had given its final crash of thunder, long after the gray, ominous clouds had dissolved, Lune sat awake, without any hint of being tired, staring at the pathetic charred remains of the tree. Her tree.

She watched the sun rise the next morning, which looked beautiful, but brought only further sadness. She didn't want to have to leave her tree. When Soleil returned, he would be very upset. He often told stories of their parents, and now that their legacy had vanished in a puff of smoke and a flash of light, he wouldn't ever quite be the same.

Later that day, Soleil and the rest of the men returned from the scavenge, carrying baskets and satchels full of the few meats they ate, berries, and miscellaneous plants. She was thrilled to see Soleil, but worried about telling him. She gave a brief farewell to her temporary family, and thanked Ruby especially. Ruby smiled and told her to come back sometime. Lune assured she would.

With that, she climbed down the tree, intending to greet Soleil. Once he had been pardoned of his load, he asked how the tree was. Lune's eyes watered just a little. She took her brother's hand and led him to the tree that had once been theirs.

The reek of charred wood filled Lune with despair, and it seemed to Lune that her brother was suffering the same way. Lune saw him wipe tears away from his eyes with the back of his right hand. But then he smiled, and spoke to Lune.

"Well, I guess we'll have to find a new tree."

"But Soleil, our history, our heritage, was with that tree."

"The tree is gone. There is nothing we can do to get it back. It will be missed, but we need to move on."

So the pair sought out a new tree. Soleil let Lune pick it out, and she searched for one as much like the old one as she could find. Once she had made her choice, Soleil set to work. Within ten days, with the help of other strong villagers, they had a new house.

"Wait," Lune whispered. "It needs the finishing touch."

She pulled a sharp bit of stone out of a pouch she kept tied to her waste, and scratched symbols in the  tree's bark. The symbols of her parents, grandparents, her entire ancestry. Then, and only then, did she allow herself to call the new tree home.