The Fallen Tree

High in the mountains, on a stormy night, a forest of cedar trees swayed in the dark. The Wind shouted loudly and forced its swollen hands through the timber. Wind’s cousin, Lightining, struck the mountain repleatedly and all the cedar held their roots tightly in fear. Suddenly, Lightining struck one cedar tree - Crack-a-lacka! - and she fell with a great heaving noise.

For many days the cedar lay on the ground, sad, worried and affraid. “What will become of me?”, she thought.

Gradually, the rains gave her a soft bed to rest on. Then, a chorus of frogs happened upon her, and graciously asked if they could make their home inside her cozy hollow. “Of course!”, she entreated. They hopped in, tickling her bark. A family of racoons, also in need of shelter, made their home under her shady tunk, and she welcomed them too. She stretched her back wide as a place for hikers to rest and bear cubs to jostle. When children came to the forest to play, they would use her as a bridge to imaginary places, and claim her for hide and seek, filling the cedar with their laughter. She felt joy.

One night the Wind returned, pulling its way through the forest and snapping branches as it went. As the other trees held their roots in fear, the fallen cedar lay unafraid. The Wind could do nothing to her now.

She slept peacefully, surrounded by her friends, giving them safety in her cavernous heart.