Tree, part I

There once was a little tree who grew up closely surrounded by many other pines like himself. He spent his summers growing taller, sprouting new needles that turned from bright to dark green and new branches that stretched out to his friends and up to the sun.

One day, when he had grown to about 7 feet tall, men came in among the trees and began trimming branches on him and the other trees around, making their silhouettes sleeker and chopping off any irregularities. At first surprised and taken aback by the sting of the cuts, he nevertheless thought the makeover suited him and his friends and was settling in to enjoy his new look when a horrible pain sliced his trunk close to the ground, severing him from his roots and sending him crashing to the ground. The world turned black.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but he became aware that he was still alive, although weak and parched. He tried to move his branches but found they had been squashed together and tightly bound. He was again surrounded by many other pines, but this was not like before. They too were all severed and bound, strangers pressed painfully tight against each other.

Over the next few days, tree and the other pines where tossed onto a big truck, strapped in tightly and driven over miles of hard, grey ground. He choked on gas fumes and unfamiliar smells.

Tree ended up in a big parking lot, inside a fenced enclosure with over a hundred other pines propped against the fence and against each other. Tree was feeling weak and thirsty. He didn’t know how many days had passed since he had stood rooted in the earth, fed by the nutrients and water in the soil.

Standing inside this enclosure, tree soon noticed that people were coming in and walking among the bound pines. They would sometimes pull one pine to standing and turn it around, discuss it and perhaps put it back. Or, more surprisingly, they would wrap their arms around it and carry it away. Where were they being taken? tree wondered. Would someone take him too?

To be continued...