Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“…Nothin’. Give me one minute.”
He jumped out of the truck, closed the door, and jogged back over to the tree in the remote wilderness. The wilderness that broke his father’s heart. The wilderness he cried in. The wilderness he laughed and ran in. Hide and go seek thyself…
He stood there with her—the tree. He was certain she must be female, though he wasn’t an expert in such things. She just felt like that to him. Now she was covered in jewels and petals from his soulmate. His next heartbeat. He stood at the base of it and wrapped his arms around the wide trunk, hugging it hard.
“When I was a child, I was lost. I found you. I blamed you for my decisions and misfortunes. I turned a miracle into a monster, and a monster into my misery. When I was a young man, I came to you again. Broken in spirit, broken in my heart, and broken in my pocketbook. I wanted to see you again, and you were here for me. I sat down at your roots, and I cried into your soil. My tears fell into the soil all around you. Watering nightmares, fueling future dreams. I left back into the world, living my life while you stayed right here. Faithful. Waiting for my return. When I revisited, little wildflowers had blossomed at your base, where my tears had fallen.
“Most would say it was the rain and the sun’s work, but I’d like to think it was from me. Over the years, I’d come and go, havin’ a healthy fear of you, until finally, that fear was all gone—and there was nothing there but love, respect and trust. You were so big and mighty. So mysterious and brooding. So gentle, yet so strong. You held my secrets better than a journal. You became my mama, my daddy, and my God. Everything a man could need. It sounds strange to be so enamored with a tree, but I was forever changed after I hid behind you in a childish game of hide and seek. You’re the most beautiful tree in all of the land. I know that physically, you can’t grow anymore. It was my turn to grow… You have nothing else to give but shade and dreams. But this time, I don’t want nothin’ from you. My greed for you has perished. I want to honor you and tell you how much you mean to me.
“Sheep huddle and hide, and usually trust only a few… That was me. The black sheep, hidin’ behind the tree. It took the threat of the very thing that I loved the most being taken from me, for me to wake up and see that life is more important than a fat wallet, a job title, or the dollar amount in a bank account. I found my gifts, my talents—and how ironic that the almighty dollar is made from you, too. Paper, paper, paper… but your roots are where your magic lies…
“The parts no one can see. Sometimes, the hidden parts of us, the quiet parts of us, the secret parts of us are the most powerful of all.”
He dropped his arms at his sides and looked way up towards the sky. She stretched towards it all the days of her long life. Her many arms and crowns were beacons welcoming all lost little boys and girls…
He kept his eye on the sun. Placing his hands together in prayer, he closed his eyes and spoke aloud. “God, I’m not what I’d call a prayin’ man, but I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me. The lessons, the love, and this life. I like nice things, but that’s just it. They’re just things. I come from humble beginnings, so I appreciate a hard day’s work, or just the simple things in life. Mama kept me grounded. My failures kept me unassuming.
“I thought you’d forgotten about me when my parents fought one another. I thought you’d forgotten about me when I and my brothers were taken away from my mama and placed with strangers. I thought you’d forgotten about me, after all the times I watched my daddy lie on the couch, a needle stuck in his arm, or an empty bottle on his chest. I thought you’d forgotten about me when I got unfairly kicked out of the Marines. I thought you’d forgotten about me when I was sleeping in my car and barely had enough money for a candy bar. Crazy thing is, I didn’t give you credit when things got better, though.
“Maybe a little bit of it was shame.” He shrugged. “Knowin’ I’d done somethin’ woolly to make a better way. Back then, I saw it as a thief taking away from another thief. So what? But it does matter. Principles matter. Integrity matters. Generosity matters. I tried to make it right, God… Because you showed me that even in our darkest days in the forest, when the rain is pourin’ down on our heads, and we feel alone, we’re not. You’re the tree. You’re there. You’ve always been there!” He blinked back tears, then continued.