Member-only story
Tree
Contest entrant, no dialogue. Prompt = tree. I took it from there. Enjoy. Nice review: Bravo!? All in a sentence or two, you’ve given us a literature delight!
It’s not an imposing tree. It’s not tall, nor stout, nor heavy with leaves. It’s just a tree. It does what it is supposed to do — sway in the wind with rustling leaves, provide a little shade, and is a place for birds to rest — but no more. It does not thrust majestically into the sky or stand with broad shoulders in the path of progress. No, it is just an average tree.
Its bark is scaly, and peels in places. Its leaves are long, narrow, with serrated edges. They are neither a dark green or the yellow-green of new growth. They are just green. They must not taste good, for they are seldom eaten. Our tree produces no berries, nuts, or anything of use. It is just an average tree.
It has flowers in the Spring, but they don’t last long and leave a mess on the sidewalk. By any objective measure our tree is a failure. Maybe not a failure as much as not a success. It gets plenty of sun and enough water to produce a more robust tree, a more successful tree, but it doesn’t try. It stays average.
Maybe the problem is it is all alone. It is the only tree in this block. It stands as a sentinel to possibilities, to what might have been, or should have been. What is a lonely tree but a testament to failure. Do trees…
