A light summer breeze whistled through the branches of a quaking aspen. Even the lightest breeze could make the branches dance. At the base of the massive tree, a young man stood above a cluster of roots. He trembled slightly, for he feared for the child. Even with the help of the great mother tree, this small patch of roots had barely grown, and had been especially hard to nurture. The man sighed softly; the time to harvest was upon him.
The man bent down swiftly and pulled a sash of gardening tools from his belt. He began to push the soil and dirtied roots away from what lay at the center. The work was quick, for even if it may not look like it, the young man was adept at gardening and had done this many times before. The man pushed back his straw hat and rolled up his jeans to keep them out of the way. Before removing the last of the earthen mess, he said a silent prayer; he hoped his fear was misplaced and tried to remain optimistic.
The young man swept away the remaining soil, revealing a small infant. The baby was humanoid in figure, yet was covered in a light ashen bark. Small twigs with pink buds protruded from all over the child's body. When the baby boy cracked open his eyes, he revealed his large pink irises, the same shade as the buds on his body. A layer of light black fuzz covered the child's head.
The young man stared in wonder; joy surged through his body. He scooped the baby in his arms and carried him away from the mother tree that stood in the middle of a lush green forest. The man took the child to his small house located at the edge of the woods. He set the baby gently in the middle of the matted floor.
The time to name the child had come. The man had never grown a tree such as the child that lay before him. The man stared down at the child, debating name after name. The child had slowly began to drift off as the man pondered what to call him. Eventually, he settled on one, a name the man deemed would suit the child best.
The man gently picked up the fast asleep baby and whispered softly in his ear, " I shall call you Saku."
YOU ARE READING
Green Thumb
FantasyA man needs to pass on a dying tradition of growing human like beings from nature. One day, when he grows a child different from most others, he deems this new infant to be his successor and carry on the tradition.
