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Short Stories Miscellaneous Stories Eternity Is A Very Long Time
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Eternity Is A Very Long Time |
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| Written by David Neve | |
| Monday, 24 March 2008 | |
James stopped walking and stared at the tree in the middle of the meadow. For more than twelve years he had passed this tree on his morning walk; twelve years of stopping for a moment to stare at it's majesty, then continuing his walk. There it stood, surrounded by lush green grass, with it's arms extended in a welcoming embrace. It looked as though it was smiling as it soaked up the morning sun, absorbing the dew on its leaves, dancing in the light breeze.
Before him in all of it's glory was the symbol of the absolute opposite of his life. The epitome of tranquility stood before him and almost seemed to mock him in its peacefulness. He had just lost his job, was soon to lose his home, and his family was long gone. He was tired. Just tired.
He tried, when he realized his world was collapsing around him, to fix everything - to fix anything, but he no longer had the will. He was done and he knew it. And there was that damn tree. Staring at him, taunting him.
He jumped the fence and starting walking across the meadow to the tree. He had no idea what he was going to do when he got there, but he cut a straight line towards it, changing course only to avoid the tree stumps littering the meadow. Within moments, or perhaps a lifetime he arrived; almost before he knew it. He stood at the base of the tree, within the umbrella of its grand branches and looked at the trunk - trying to remember what he intended to do when he got here.
When he realized what he had just done, he looked back at the fence, shook his head in wonder and said aloud, "I'm an idiot".
"Why would you be an idiot?"
James turned his head and assumed the popular ‘trying to understand' pose that dogs do with their heads when people do stupid human tricks, "Hello?"
"Hello."
"Am I talking to a tree?"
"You appear to be talking to a tree."
"And is the tree talking to me?"
"Truly, it is so."
"How is possible, may I ask?"
"You may. Truth be told, we are very much the same. I am a human just as you are, I am simply trapped in a tree and you are not."
"How did you manage to get trapped in a tree?"
"I was tricked by the previous, um, guest."
"How long?"
"How long?"
"How long have you been trapped inside this tree?"
"Hundreds of years, I'm sure. How many hundreds of years, I am not sure."
"Why not just trick another into your place?"
"Alas, I am not that lacking in conscience. I tried once, but could not do it. The person I lured to me was too kind."
"Too kind?"
"Too kind. I bespoke my story and found him willing, but I could not be the cause of him abandoning his human existence. Anyone that would assist me in my plight is a kind person, as a mean person would just leave me here. I'm spinning in an eternal paradox, it seems. The good I cannot deceive, and the bad cannot be deceived."
"How is it you were tricked into the tree?"
"I wanted to help the previous guest in his plight. You see, the guest must convince another to push him out of the tree. As that person pushes, the guest needs simply pull him or her in - replacing him. They are trapped, the guest is free. The previous guest chose not to speak of the latter and I foolishly chose to assist him. He then he pulled me into his place."
"Hundreds of years, and you have not done the same?"
"No, I cannot."
James looked around the meadow, "How is it that all of the other trees are gone and yet you remain?"
"I cannot be damaged." the branches shook, "A builder came once, intent on some great construction. They cut down the trees that stood around me. They tried to cut me down, but nothing came of it. They abandoned the project and now the meadow is not even used. It is empty, wasted."
"How long will you remain in the tree if you cannot find somebody to help you?"
"An eternity."
"Do you feel anything? Do you get lonely? What is it like?"
"I cannot explain clearly, I lack the vocabulary. I feel comfortable, almost suspended in a state lacking weight. I do not feel hunger, pain, or thirst - the physical human side of me simply exists. When I sleep, it is a sleep that lasts for tens of years. When I awaken, I see a world reshaped around me. The only thing that does not change, and the thing that causes me the most pain, is that I stand alone in this meadow.
It would appear that I am separate from the world, yet my roots go deep and I feel much of what happens around me for many hundreds of miles. I do miss the company of trees, almost as much as I miss the company of humans. I can watch, I can listen, I can learn, but I cannot participate."
Impulsively James almost shouted, "I'll take your place!"
"Pardon?"
"I'll take your place."
"Why would you wish to take my place?"
"I...I don't have a reason not to. My life here is over, I've really nothing to live for - and you do. Taking my life will never be an option, but giving it would."
"You would do me this favor and take my place?"
"Funny, you have said the very words that I was thinking - would you do me this favor and let me take your place?"
"Truly, yours is the greatest of gestures. But forget not sir, eternity is a very long time."
"Very true, but who knows, maybe somebody evil will come along before then."
"It shall be done then. Reach out and touch the bark of the tree - push through the bark until your feel my shoulder."
James reached out and felt the bark, and then he slowly applied pressure until his hand went through it. Reaching further into the tree he felt a shoulder and began to push gently. As he pushed, he felt a hand reach out and grasp his, then he felt a tug, and then he felt nothing.
Stephen stood under the umbrella of the great tree and looked about the meadow, sad that many of the sensations that he had enjoyed for centuries were gone, but happy that they had been replaced by the sensations that he had missed as a human.
He looked at the tree for a moment, thinking, then spoke quietly, "Thank you, my friend. It will take some time to get accustomed to your new home; the tree will awaken you when you are ready. When you open your eyes once again, I shall have a gift for you."
James woke with a start. Every fiber of his being was humming, vibrating. He could feel the breeze going through his very skin, felt sounds moving up his roots into his branches, moving from his branches to his roots. He tried to take control of the rush of sensations and found it too much. These new sensations had no meaning to him; he could not understand how to feel them. He went into a panic. People, machines, the very air around him were his enemy. He stood alone, in the middle of a meadow, assailed by every element of the world; he felt like his brain was on fire. Then he felt nothing.
* * *
Sunlight filtered slowly through his leaves, slowly warming his body as the birds sang all around him. James slowly pushed out his awareness and found his branches, his leaves, and his roots. After years of sleep, he opened his eyes for the first time. Playfully shaking the dew off of his lower branches he played with a caterpillar hanging on a web, pretending it was a yo-yo. Farther off he could heard the sounds of children playing in the distance. He could feel the ball that they were chasing in the wind lightly bouncing on the grass; feel their footsteps as they skipped after it. James was in heaven on earth.
He relaxed and let his feelings stretch across the meadow into the town. He listened and watched as the people interacted with each other, happy to be apart from the struggles of his past. He let his probing flow from him in all directions, feeling about for changes that occurred while he slept.
As he came back to his meadow he noticed something different. Something had changed right under his leaves and somehow he had not noticed it. There were swing sets, picnic tables, and flowerbeds throughout the meadow. Families were everywhere, some under his own great branches, hiding from the sun. He could feel the ground vibrate with their joy.
But something else had happened while he slept. There were trees. Happiness raced through his trunk as he sped from seedling to seedling, touching each little tree tenderly, feeling their health, and offering encouragement.
"Trees!"
"Trees!"
Anxiously, he forced himself to relax and go to sleep. There was no way he could sit awake and wait for the little trees to grow.
"Trees!"
Comments (7) |
 03-24-2008 00:48, Read this before David, really good story and a unique idea.Grand job. » Reply to this comment...  03-24-2008 05:06, I remember this story...still touching » Reply to this comment...  03-24-2008 05:11, really interesting story. i mean its just soo simple. i throughly enjoyed reading it. very interesting idea. :D » Reply to this comment... 03-24-2008 08:08, I think we have a knew DR. Suess on our hands. » Reply to this comment...  03-24-2008 09:33, Rather simple indeed, not that im expecting to read Salmon Rushdie on here. A child story told on sesame street is where this would be most suited. Not bad for the age group you must have intended this for. » Reply to this comment... » See all 1 replie(s)  03-24-2008 12:13, That was really nice! :) » Reply to this comment...  03-24-2008 20:01, Alfred, this story is way to advanced for Sesame street. Sesame street would be, "T is for tree!" and thats it. maybe you should read it again. » Reply to this comment... |
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