A Final Thought: Tree's Big Adventure
By Mitch Allen
One day in mid-summer Tree was speaking with Cicada. “It is getting late,” Tree said. “When will you begin your adventure?”
“I am having my adventure now,” Cicada replied. “I sing and I fall in love.”
“But you have wings!” said Tree. “You could fly anywhere in the world while I am stuck here with my roots in the soil.”
“Where would I go and what would I do when I got there?” Cicada asked. “I can only sing and fall in love, which I can do right here.”
“Oh, if I could fly I would go anywhere but here,” Tree said. “Every day I see the same forest, the same mountains, the same sunrise and sunset. The scenery never changes for a tree.”
“If you want to fly away, why don’t you ask the Sky Spirit for wings?” Cicada suggested.
Tree thought about what Cicada said and that night he prayed to the Sky Spirit. He prayed for wings so that he may leave his home and travel the world on a great adventure. The Sky Spirit heard his prayer and responded.
“I cannot give you wings,” the Sky Spirit said to Tree, “but I can give you legs so that you may walk the earth.”
“Legs!” Tree gasped with joy. “That would be wonderful! I could walk out of the forest and have my adventure!”
The next morning when the sun rose, Tree looked down and saw that his roots had transformed into five long, beautiful legs. Tree immediately began shuffling his feet. At first he stumbled, but soon he began to walk with ease.
“Oh, thank you, Sky Spirit!” Tree exclaimed, making his way out of the forest. “I am walking! I am beginning my adventure!”
“Where are we going?” Cicada sang, as he clung tightly to one of Tree’s big, green leaves which shook with each step he took.
“I am going on an adventure beyond the forest,” Tree replied.
“But I count on you,” Cicada said sadly. “I live in your leaves where I am safe. I sing from your limbs and many of my kind will fall in love and lay our eggs in your tender bark. Our children will climb down and bury themselves in the soil in your shade until they are ready to come forth. We need you!”
“I am sorry,” Tree said. “But you’ll have to find another tree to live in. I am so bored living here in the forest. I MUST go on my adventure.”
So Cicada said goodbye to Tree and he flew away quietly to find another home.
“Goodbye, Tree,” Cicada said. “I hope you enjoy your adventure.”
“Thank you, Cicada,” Tree replied. “I sure will!”
Tree walked all day and night, enjoying the change of scenery. He saw lakes and rivers and waterfalls. He saw farms and fields and vast meadows filled with beautiful flowers.
“I want to see the ocean next!” Tree exclaimed.
But Tree was growing tired so he decided to stop and take a nap. While he was sleeping, a woodcutter saw Tree standing in the middle of a large, green prairie.
“Well, I’ve never seen THAT tree before,” the woodcutter said. “I wonder how it got here?”
The woodcutter scratched his head.
“No matter,” he said. “This tree will make lots of firewood to keep my family warm this winter.”
So the woodcutter chopped down Tree and carefully split his limbs into perfect logs. He hauled them away and stacked them neatly by his cottage.
“That is a beautiful stack of firewood,” the woodcutter’s wife said. “It will help us stay warm all winter.”
“And there is enough so that we may sell some to buy bread and meat. I am very thankful,” the woodcutter said. “Last night I prayed to the Sky Spirit that I would find a large tree to help feed my family and my prayers were answered. It’s a miracle.”
The woodcutter looked up into the heavens and listened. Far off in the distance he heard the faint song of Cicada.
Beyond the forest, beyond the oceans, beyond the clouds, beyond the stars—Tree walked into the waiting arms of the Sky Spirit and began the greatest adventure of all.