The Tall One

On a moonlit evening

In a land beyond the horizon,

There once was a forest.

Within this forest there grew a tree who wanted nothing more than to hold the Sun.

To grab it, so that it’s lifegiving rays could shine down on their forest forever, and the forest would never want for its warmth in the cold nights.

And so, the tree decided that it must grow.

It must grow tall enough to grasp the heavens.

The tree’s roots stretched and reached; it would need much food and much water so it could grow tall enough to reach the sky, after all.

As time passed, the tree grew tall and it’s height became remarkable as it now towered over it’s neighbors.

But it could not yet reach the Sun.

Even still, the tree did not relent.

The tree spent years growing; it’s roots stretching further and further as the tree searched for more food and water. It had not yet grown enough to grasp the heavens.

But far beneath the swaying peak, the other trees in the forest were withering away. The trees nearest the tall one had long since fallen as there was no food nor water left to be had.

Those trees had fallen and become food for the tall one, as it continued to stretch towards the sky.

Over many years, the area around the tall one became empty. The food and water having been taken by the tall one. The only life that lived near the tree now was the creatures that lived within it’s branches. But the tall one had yet to take it’s prize.

Then the tree bore fruit. The sort that no woodland creature could resist.

But the fruit was not given as a gift by the tree. The fruit was poison and was grown to kill the woodland creatures so that the tree could feast upon them.

All so the tree could capture the sun.

The forest had now grown small. There was only the tree and what few creatures that could stomach it’s poison fruit. There was no longer any food or water except for that which was had by the tree.

Yet it still stretched out it’s roots further and further. It took all the food and all the water that lay before it as it continued it’s quest to snatch the Sun.

Then, one day, the tall one found nothing at the ends of it’s roots. There was no food and no water; there was only sand.

The tree had reached for miles and now found nothing but desert all around it.

The tall one was now quite tall indeed, but still had not captured the Sun. There was now nothing left to sustain it. The water had been drunk long ago and there was nothing left to eat as far as the eye could see.

And so the tree stood. Watching the heavens pass by day after day.

Slowly drying out as the Sun beat down upon it.

Until one day the tall one fell.

It crumbled into dust there, at the heart of a barren desert of it’s own creation.

On a moonlit evening in a land beyond the horizon,

Where nothing would ever grow again

There was once a forest…