The Tree
I want to be something great.
Something beautiful.
Something fierce.
And I am, in the making anyway.
For I am but a small seed, tossed violently into a harsh world full of birds and the like, waiting in the shadows to ambush anything they find edible.
And that includes me.
So I try to grow.
As quickly as possible, I absorb all of the heat and water I can.
My goal?
To grow.
Simply, grow.
I watch as the birds swoop down and snatch my bretheren, the only difference between them and I being that they had the misfortune of dropping all of two mere inches away from me.
But I prevail.
My roots deepen.
I begin to lift myself into the air on a thin stem, every gust of wind threatening to knock me over.
Must grow thicker.
As I thicken I watch the aphids begin devouring the next unlucky batch of those who weren't blessed by the ladybugs.
They stop eloquently to munch on the pesky pests who try to climb my ever thickening stalk.
Further I go, now, I must catch more light.
I don't know what this giant light in the sky is, but I know I must absorb it.
For it's rays allow me to make a sweet nectar from which to subside.
Sustenance.
Taller still.
As my leaves unfurl and I reach further to the sky, the rains begin to pour.
Pounding, drowning, I struggle to stay upright.
More of my kind fall, smothered into the ground and submerged in water.
The sky clears and I live another day.
My stem becomes brown.
I become more sturdy.
The days pass, and the nights tic by.
It becomes apparent that I am very tall, stretching into the blue skies.
It has been a while since I bent with the wind.
My leaves take in plenty of light and I am at ease.
I have grown into a lovely tree, and now I watch as my acorns fall and begin their journey to greatness.
