Meta
12-08-2003, 12:41 AM
Hi guys... this is my first post to stories and essays. This
is a children's story I began writing about 13 years ago and
two years ago completed it (by adding 2 paragraphs at the end).
I'd be interested in any feedback. (I'm thinking of working it
over)
Thanks!
One cloudy fall day, a sparrow tired from a long flight saw a little tree where he thought he could rest. The little tree sat all alone in the middle of a big parking lot surrounded by cars. At the foot of the little tree was a small amount of grass, but that was caged in by a wall of concrete. As the sparrow landed on one of the little tree's branches he noticed a tear streaking down the trunk of the tree.
"What is wrong little tree?" asked the sparrow. "Does it hurt having me sit on your branches?"
"Oh, no," said the tree as he sniffled, "Please stay with me. I am in need of some company. Please stay a while and talk to me."
"Sure, I'll stay, I need some rest. Won't you tell me why you are crying?"
As the little tree gave out a sigh he replied, "I miss my family. I haven't seen them for five years now, and I wonder how they are doing."
"If you miss them so badly, why did you leave?" Asked sparrow.
"I was forced to leave them."
"Forced? Why were you forced? Who could make you leave your family?"
"The Tree Council, of course," little tree answered curtly.
Now the sparrow was really puzzled. He had never heard of a tree council and, For that matter, he wasn't sure anybody else had either. He questioned the tree cautiously, "What exactly is a Tree Council?"
"Oh," said the little tree, "Of course you haven't heard of the tree council. You wouldn't have unless you were a tree. It is a very secret matter, after all. Well, the Tree Council has the power to exile you from all the other trees, if they choose. They usually put you in a parking lot by yourself, or something similar to that. They make sure you are all alone and have no chance of seeing other trees."
"But, why would they do that to you?"
The little tree mumbled something that the sparrow could not understand so the sparrow repeated the question. Finally after the question had been repeated three times the tree answered so loudly that there could be no question about what he was saying. "Because I am Different!"
Scared by the force of the trees reply the sparrow sprung off the tree limb and flew away quickly.
After the sparrow had flown a mile or so, he found his mind going over the conversation he had just had with the tree. Why would the trees make him leave because he was different, and how exactly was this little tree different. As he thought back over the trees appearance he didn't think he was that much different from the other trees he had rested on before. Maybe his branches did sway a bit
different than the rest, he thought. But the sparrow dismissed that thought and went back to the beginning of the conversation. Finally, he could not stand the wondering anymore. Sparrow turned and started the flight back to the little tree.
When the sparrow got to the little trees little island in the big parking lot he Seemed to be just as sad, or even sadder, than when he had left. His limbs and leaves hung so limply that sparrow, afraid to land on him, chose to land on the small patch of grass surrounding the tree.
"Little tree, I am sorry I took off so quickly. You scared me when you yelled. I have not stopped thinking about you, though. Please tell me why you are different."
The little tree sighed and started on his story again. "Sparrow, I am sorry I yelled. I am just sad. The other trees say that I am different because I had dreams. Bad dreams. When I would tell the other trees about them they would become
scared and they started to hate me because I scared them. I just needed someone to talk to. When I stopped telling my dreams out of fear of the Tree Council, it was already too late. They had been told of my dreams. Then, the exiled me."
Having many dreams himself, the little sparrow wondered how the trees scary dreams could have him exiled. He always just laughed off his own dreams. Everybody knew that dreams were just nonsense.
"Little tree, what kind of dreams could get you exiled? Dreams are suppose to be fun. They are not suppose to be taken seriously."
"Sparrow, I had dreams of forests. Dreams of great, huge forests and men. Men with big sharp instruments. The likes that I have never seen. I don't remember exactly what happens except in the end of my dreams I always see my family and friends, or who I thought were my friends, lying on the ground. A position no tree ever wants to be in."
"Oh, please Sparrow, be my friend and go back to my forest and find my family and send them my love. Also, Sparrow, bring me back word of them. Tell me how they look and if they send me their love, too.
With that, the sparrow, who had been very touched by the little tree's sad story asked the location of the forest he was from and began a long journey for the sake of his new found friend.
Half way there sparrow was frightened by what he saw. Trees laying down on a truck. Not exactly what the little tree had described, but they were laying down. And that was after all a position no tree ever got out of. The further the sparrow got
the more things he saw that were in the little trees dreams. He saw trees lying on the ground. Some were alone and some were in great piles. Then he saw the men.
The men were carrying large sharp metal objects. Some of the men were using the objects on the trees. That is what was making the trees lie down. That was the part of the dream that was missing. Sparrow was quite glad that little tree was spared that part of the dream.
Finally, the sparrow reached the forest where the little trees family lived. When he found the family, he told them of their son and his situation. They began to cry, but they weren't tears of sadness, they were tears of happiness. They were happy that he, at least, was safe and well and not on the edge of destruction as they all were. Then the little trees mother began to tell the sparrow her story.
"Little tree's dreams have all come true, except the men haven't came for us yet. They have torn down forest after forest leaving only a few trees. The trees that surrounded the forest, which is, without the men realizing it, the Tree Council. Because they didn't listen to my son's dreams they have all been exiled themselves.
They have become leaders with no followers, and what good is that? Please, sparrow, send my son our love and tell him we are grateful to God that he is spared of this danger. He is a special boy, not "different" as they all thought. Tell him that we miss him." And with that Mother Tree got very quiet and refused to speak to the
sparrow any longer.
After pleading with father tree for a while, Father Tree finally agreed to speak to the sparrow. "Sparrow, I just can't see what we can do. We are powerless against men. We can blow their houses down, but there is none near our woods. Even if we could blow down their houses, they would just lay more trees on the ground so they
could build more."
"There has got to be something we can do to stop the men. Stop them from destroying all the trees." cried sparrow. Then suddenly sparrow grinned. The kind of grin you grin when you think you have found the answer. "I know!" he cheered. "Let's ask little tree, maybe he can dream of the answer!"
Suddenly mother and father tree looked at one another. Each, for the first time in quite a while, had a glimmer of hope in their eyes. Or was it the sparkle of new tears?
Father tree spoke up, "Please go sparrow. Go back to our little tree and ask him to dream of the solution to our problem. Be our wings and go to him."
Sparrow, now with a tear in his own eye, wondered how he had gotten himself into this. He knew there was no way out, now. He didn't want out, either.
After flying for quite a way, sparrow became very thirsty. The first water he spotted was a large lake. Sparrow landed at its shores and was about to take a drink when he was startled by a horrible sound.
"Stop!" came a yell. It sounded like an ox was yelling from the lake. Sparrow looked up and saw a bass. Sparrow backed up and stared at the fish. "Don't drink the water!" said the fish. "Listen, I'm doing you a favor. The water is BAD!"
"What's wrong with the water?" asked the sparrow.
"I'm not sure," croaked the bass. "It started a couple years ago. It all began when the rain started to burn us."
"The rain burns you?" This was all so puzzling for a little sparrow.
"I know, I know, it doesn't make any sense. But the rain burns now. You don't want to be anywhere near the surface of the lake when it starts to rain these days. And my voice. Do you hear it? Of, course you do. It was nice and soft before the rain began to burn. Now it sounds horrible. I know it is the water. It is the rains fault. That is all I know."
With that, the bass dived under the surface of what sparrow now realized was a very murky and dirty lake. Sparrow felt relieved that the bass had stopped him. He was also scarred, too, not knowing what could cause the rain to go bad.
Very thirsty, but not wanting to drink any water from that lake, sparrow flew into the city he had seen on the way to the lake. Sparrow passed by big smoke stacks coming out of large buildings. The smoke drifted up to the sky to catch up with the smoke from the larger smoke billows. But the sky wasn't blue. It was gray, but
sparrow didn't see any clouds. Finally, sparrow found a water fountain where a small puddle of water had pooled. He drank until his thirst was quenched. As soon as he was finished, sparrow left that big city as quickly as he could. Never turning back to look at that gloomy gray sky next to that dirty lake.
As sparrow flew away, he found himself lost deep in thought. He was thinking about all the things that he had come to take for granted living in the small town he was from. Clean air for example, it seemed he just expected it. The same for clean water. Also he had always taken trees for granted. Whenever he was tired and he
needed somewhere to land, there always seemed to be plenty of trees. The way the men were cutting them down now, it seemed there might be a shortage of trees any time. If there was a shortage of trees there would be a shortage of homes for birds. Sparrow just couldn't imagine his old parents trying to fight with some younger birds for a space in a tree for their nest. Sparrow didn't want to imagine it either. With that resolution sparrow flew on trying to think of the best solution for the problem. So lost in thought was sparrow that he didn't even notice he had flown right into the middle of a flock of ducks flying south for the winter.
"Hey Buddy, where do you think you are flying?" a voice said and woke him out of his reverie.
Sparrow looked around and realized where he was. In the middle of a flock of ducks. Ducks don't like sparrows or any other smaller birds, for that matter. Since ducks are bigger than most birds and they fancy themselves world travelers they looked down on smaller birds. Ducks thought sparrows were cowards. It was this realization that made sparrow decide to tell the ducks about his journey.
"I am on a long trip trying to help a friend out with his problem, " replied sparrow.
"Ha!" said the biggest duck, "Since when did sparrows start taking such journeys? Also, when did they start flying so high and so far away from everything?"
"Really!" cried Sparrow. "I am on a trip to help a friend of mine. Little tree is his name and..." Sparrow went on to tell the story of little tree and the reason for his long journey.
"Oh, stop! You're breaking my heart!" Shouted the big duck, "Come on guys. Why should we care if they are cutting down trees? I mean, it doesn't effect us! When have you ever seen a duck build a nest in a tree?" and with that the big duck hit the sparrow with his wing and sent him spiraling down towards the ground.
Right before sparrow hit the ground, he caught his balance and started flying upwards again. Flying down towards him, sparrow saw a duck. His first impulse was to fly away and hope that the duck did not catch him. Then, realizing that was probably what the duck wanted, thinking the sparrow a coward, he kept a steady trail upwards.
When the two birds met, sparrow was surprised by the first words the duck said to him. "I'm sorry." Those were the only two words the duck said as he fell into flight with the sparrow. As sparrow studied the duck he could see that he was truly sorry and
began to wonder if he had found a new friend. Before long, sparrow could not control his curiosity anymore. "What are you doing here duck? Why don't you go and catch up with your flock?"
"My flock is wrong, sparrow. They don't care about anything as long as it doesn't effect them. I, on the other hand, do care. I think everything effects everybody in the long run. Sparrow, I came to help you, if you need me. Or more to the point, if you will let me."
Surprised, all he could say was, "thank you." Then the duck and the sparrow flew in silence until they reached little tree.
Late that afternoon, Sparrow and duck finally arrived at little tree. Sparrow was so tired from the journey that he could hardly speak.
"Sparrow! You came back! Tell me, did you find my parents? Are they all right?" cried little tree.
"Yes, I saw them. They are fine. I will tell you all about our talk tomorrow but, first I need some rest. It has been a very long trip for a sparrow." Then sparrow sat down on one of the little trees branches and fell quickly to sleep.
While sparrow slept, duck and little tree introduced themselves.
"You have found quite a friend, " said duck. "I thought that anyone who would do such a noble thing for someone else, had to be my friend. So, I followed him here."
"Yes," said little tree, "I am very lucky."
The next morning, sparrow awoke refreshed, but, when he realized where he was, a sense or weariness washed over him. He was not looking forward to telling his friend, little tree, about his parents.
"Good morning," chirped sparrow. "Thank you for letting me sleep so long. I know you have to be going crazy with curiosity."
"Yes," little tree replied. "Please tell me now."
Sparrow told him all about his trip from the trucks full of trees to the strange bass that he met. He ended his story by telling little tree about meeting duck.
"So, you see, little tree, we need to find a way to stop this all. You dreamt of everything that is happening, surely you can dream of a way to stop it. If you can find an answer, duck and I will help you in any way we possibly can."
"I don't know. I hardly dream anymore. I have tried to stop my dreams for so long now. I don't know if I could make myself dream. Besides, it is so horrible to dream and to see terrible things. I don't know if I want to." replied little tree.
"But, don't you see, little tree. The dreams shouldn't be so horrible, because they should have a happy ending. The ending should be the solution to your problem. To everybody's problem. If you work on dreaming the solution, it shouldn't be so hard. Should it?" asked Sparrow.
"I don't know. I just don't know. Sparrow, please just let me think about it for a while. Please."
“O.K., I can't force you to do this but, remember, the longer you wait the closer the men come to your parents." said sparrow. "I am going to find some breakfast. Are you coming duck?"
"No. I think I will wait around here for a while. This parking lot should be filling up pretty soon and some of the men will surely bring me some bread crumbs."
Sparrow flew off and little tree fell into deep thought. Little tree was so deep in thought that he fell asleep. This wasn't surprising. Little tree had hardly slept since sparrow had first left on his trip. Last night he didn't sleep at all because, as
sparrow had said, he was practically "crazy with curiosity". But now little tree slept. In his subconscious, he was fighting with himself not to dream. He was thinking of his mother and father and then thinking of his bad dreams. Thinking of sparrow's story, and his asking him to dream and his own reluctance. He didn't want to have anymore bad dreams. His life was bad enough. He lived alone on a tiny patch of grass with no friends, until sparrow and duck. Why did he need anymore bad dreams? Then little tree saw a picture in his mind, or was it a dream? It was little tree with his mom and dad and they were all smiling. They all seemed so happy. It must have been the past when they were all together. He realized it wasn't the past. It was what the future was to be, that is, if he found the answer.
The picture went blank and little tree fell into a deep sleep.
It was a memory that created a dream. First he saw his mom with him when he was just a tiny tree. She was telling him that story he always loved to hear. The story of the Mother of All that took care of the earth. In his mind he could hear his mother talking.
"Son, I wish could have seen her. She is so beautiful. Tall and stately like a tree and yet she ran like a fawn. She had a voice like the sweetest song of a bird and she watches over us all, like a mother. I haven't seen her since I was a little girl, but I can remember her like it was yesterday."
"Why doesn't she come around anymore, Mom?"
"Well, from what I understand, it had to do with the men. When I was a very young tree, the earth was young and very few men inhabited the earth. Sure, there was a tribe here and there, but one could go for hundreds of miles and not see one single man. And the men that could be found heard the song of the trees in the wind.
They understood us. They loved us...."
As sparrow pecked at the ground, he felt guilt come over him. Maybe he had been too rough on little tree. He shouldn't force him to do something he really didn't want to do. After all, it wasn't his parents. But then the thought came back to him. It would effect his parents and himself if something wasn't done. Still, it was unfair to put all that pressure on little tree. If a solution had to be found, and it did, he guessed he could find it himself. He had a lot of friends. He knew that one little sparrow couldn't stop the men, but there was strength in numbers. Hoping that little tree had rested and dreamed, sparrow flew back to the parking lot.
"You must go to visit the Mother of All", said little tree excitedly when sparrow returned.
"I saw her in a tree like I have never seen before. I know it was a great banyan tree that my dear grandmother told me the story of many times. This very special tree, considered by many a tree of enlightenment, can be found at, " and little tree gave them directions. " At dusk, just before the sun sets, you know the time when that haze fills the air with wonder and magic, you will see the doorway to the mother of alls abode. You must see her and she will tell you what to do.”
Sparrow and duck agreed that they would leave at dawn and settled down to rest up for the long journey.
The new friends took off refreshed the next morning, looking forward to meeting the mother of all and finding the solution. They only hoped it wouldn’t be too late, so they flew as fast as their wings and the wind would carry them. Duck, in his fervor had to turn around many times and fly back to the little sparrow that couldn’t
keep up with Ducks strong strokes.
Just as the haze of the end of the day began to settle, Duck and sparrow arrived at the Banyan Tree. As they watched for the magic time to arrive, they held thier breath. Not only in anticipation but also in awe of the beauty that surrounded them. Never had they seen such a sunset in all their lives. The colors were spectacular. They were so taken by the sunset that they almost missed their opportunity to enter the magical tree.
“Duck Come on! The door is closing!” said sparrow and they both ducked quickly into the great trees base.
As they caught their breath, they heard somebody clear their voice from behind them. They both turned with a start.
“Hello, boys. You almost missed your entrance! I have it on good authority that you wouldn’t have been able to enter this door for at least a week. We have a large storm system moving in that won’t clear the skies for days now. Good save!”
There she was. The Mother of All. In Duck and Sparrows race to get there they didn’t take the time to think about who they would be facing. What Beauty. What Grace. What simplicity. How down to earth. Wow!
“We are so glad to meet you. Thank you for seeing us!” Sparrow said. Duck didn’t appear to be able to speak at all, he was just standing there with his bill hanging open.
Sparrow nudged duck and Duck said, “Uh, Oh , yeah, thank you….” And smiled awkwardly.
“Well come on boys, we need to talk. There isn’t much time. We have to take care of this problem before its too late.”
“There is a lady with two beautiful daughters living on the coast of Oregon in one of my blessed Rain Forests amongst great beauty. You must find her and tell her your story. This lady will understand and she will immediately go to work and write your story down. She will write down the story for the children. For the ones
who hearts and eyes have not been closed. These children will hear and they will make the difference. The changes that must be made will be made by them. They will speak for the trees, for the creatures, for the earth, for themselves. They are the saviors. Go to her now!” She smiled, kissed them both and showed them out. And then the brave woman, the Mother of All, cried. For, what if the children didn’t listen. What would happen then?
Sparrow and Duck found the lady’s house. They knew it instinctively by the two beautiful girls playing in the yard with such soulful eyes. They spoke to the girls without any fear. The bigger of the two, Tate, smiled happily at the two birds and said, “I’ll go get my Mom! She has been waiting for you!”
And with that, the story began.
is a children's story I began writing about 13 years ago and
two years ago completed it (by adding 2 paragraphs at the end).
I'd be interested in any feedback. (I'm thinking of working it
over)
Thanks!
One cloudy fall day, a sparrow tired from a long flight saw a little tree where he thought he could rest. The little tree sat all alone in the middle of a big parking lot surrounded by cars. At the foot of the little tree was a small amount of grass, but that was caged in by a wall of concrete. As the sparrow landed on one of the little tree's branches he noticed a tear streaking down the trunk of the tree.
"What is wrong little tree?" asked the sparrow. "Does it hurt having me sit on your branches?"
"Oh, no," said the tree as he sniffled, "Please stay with me. I am in need of some company. Please stay a while and talk to me."
"Sure, I'll stay, I need some rest. Won't you tell me why you are crying?"
As the little tree gave out a sigh he replied, "I miss my family. I haven't seen them for five years now, and I wonder how they are doing."
"If you miss them so badly, why did you leave?" Asked sparrow.
"I was forced to leave them."
"Forced? Why were you forced? Who could make you leave your family?"
"The Tree Council, of course," little tree answered curtly.
Now the sparrow was really puzzled. He had never heard of a tree council and, For that matter, he wasn't sure anybody else had either. He questioned the tree cautiously, "What exactly is a Tree Council?"
"Oh," said the little tree, "Of course you haven't heard of the tree council. You wouldn't have unless you were a tree. It is a very secret matter, after all. Well, the Tree Council has the power to exile you from all the other trees, if they choose. They usually put you in a parking lot by yourself, or something similar to that. They make sure you are all alone and have no chance of seeing other trees."
"But, why would they do that to you?"
The little tree mumbled something that the sparrow could not understand so the sparrow repeated the question. Finally after the question had been repeated three times the tree answered so loudly that there could be no question about what he was saying. "Because I am Different!"
Scared by the force of the trees reply the sparrow sprung off the tree limb and flew away quickly.
After the sparrow had flown a mile or so, he found his mind going over the conversation he had just had with the tree. Why would the trees make him leave because he was different, and how exactly was this little tree different. As he thought back over the trees appearance he didn't think he was that much different from the other trees he had rested on before. Maybe his branches did sway a bit
different than the rest, he thought. But the sparrow dismissed that thought and went back to the beginning of the conversation. Finally, he could not stand the wondering anymore. Sparrow turned and started the flight back to the little tree.
When the sparrow got to the little trees little island in the big parking lot he Seemed to be just as sad, or even sadder, than when he had left. His limbs and leaves hung so limply that sparrow, afraid to land on him, chose to land on the small patch of grass surrounding the tree.
"Little tree, I am sorry I took off so quickly. You scared me when you yelled. I have not stopped thinking about you, though. Please tell me why you are different."
The little tree sighed and started on his story again. "Sparrow, I am sorry I yelled. I am just sad. The other trees say that I am different because I had dreams. Bad dreams. When I would tell the other trees about them they would become
scared and they started to hate me because I scared them. I just needed someone to talk to. When I stopped telling my dreams out of fear of the Tree Council, it was already too late. They had been told of my dreams. Then, the exiled me."
Having many dreams himself, the little sparrow wondered how the trees scary dreams could have him exiled. He always just laughed off his own dreams. Everybody knew that dreams were just nonsense.
"Little tree, what kind of dreams could get you exiled? Dreams are suppose to be fun. They are not suppose to be taken seriously."
"Sparrow, I had dreams of forests. Dreams of great, huge forests and men. Men with big sharp instruments. The likes that I have never seen. I don't remember exactly what happens except in the end of my dreams I always see my family and friends, or who I thought were my friends, lying on the ground. A position no tree ever wants to be in."
"Oh, please Sparrow, be my friend and go back to my forest and find my family and send them my love. Also, Sparrow, bring me back word of them. Tell me how they look and if they send me their love, too.
With that, the sparrow, who had been very touched by the little tree's sad story asked the location of the forest he was from and began a long journey for the sake of his new found friend.
Half way there sparrow was frightened by what he saw. Trees laying down on a truck. Not exactly what the little tree had described, but they were laying down. And that was after all a position no tree ever got out of. The further the sparrow got
the more things he saw that were in the little trees dreams. He saw trees lying on the ground. Some were alone and some were in great piles. Then he saw the men.
The men were carrying large sharp metal objects. Some of the men were using the objects on the trees. That is what was making the trees lie down. That was the part of the dream that was missing. Sparrow was quite glad that little tree was spared that part of the dream.
Finally, the sparrow reached the forest where the little trees family lived. When he found the family, he told them of their son and his situation. They began to cry, but they weren't tears of sadness, they were tears of happiness. They were happy that he, at least, was safe and well and not on the edge of destruction as they all were. Then the little trees mother began to tell the sparrow her story.
"Little tree's dreams have all come true, except the men haven't came for us yet. They have torn down forest after forest leaving only a few trees. The trees that surrounded the forest, which is, without the men realizing it, the Tree Council. Because they didn't listen to my son's dreams they have all been exiled themselves.
They have become leaders with no followers, and what good is that? Please, sparrow, send my son our love and tell him we are grateful to God that he is spared of this danger. He is a special boy, not "different" as they all thought. Tell him that we miss him." And with that Mother Tree got very quiet and refused to speak to the
sparrow any longer.
After pleading with father tree for a while, Father Tree finally agreed to speak to the sparrow. "Sparrow, I just can't see what we can do. We are powerless against men. We can blow their houses down, but there is none near our woods. Even if we could blow down their houses, they would just lay more trees on the ground so they
could build more."
"There has got to be something we can do to stop the men. Stop them from destroying all the trees." cried sparrow. Then suddenly sparrow grinned. The kind of grin you grin when you think you have found the answer. "I know!" he cheered. "Let's ask little tree, maybe he can dream of the answer!"
Suddenly mother and father tree looked at one another. Each, for the first time in quite a while, had a glimmer of hope in their eyes. Or was it the sparkle of new tears?
Father tree spoke up, "Please go sparrow. Go back to our little tree and ask him to dream of the solution to our problem. Be our wings and go to him."
Sparrow, now with a tear in his own eye, wondered how he had gotten himself into this. He knew there was no way out, now. He didn't want out, either.
After flying for quite a way, sparrow became very thirsty. The first water he spotted was a large lake. Sparrow landed at its shores and was about to take a drink when he was startled by a horrible sound.
"Stop!" came a yell. It sounded like an ox was yelling from the lake. Sparrow looked up and saw a bass. Sparrow backed up and stared at the fish. "Don't drink the water!" said the fish. "Listen, I'm doing you a favor. The water is BAD!"
"What's wrong with the water?" asked the sparrow.
"I'm not sure," croaked the bass. "It started a couple years ago. It all began when the rain started to burn us."
"The rain burns you?" This was all so puzzling for a little sparrow.
"I know, I know, it doesn't make any sense. But the rain burns now. You don't want to be anywhere near the surface of the lake when it starts to rain these days. And my voice. Do you hear it? Of, course you do. It was nice and soft before the rain began to burn. Now it sounds horrible. I know it is the water. It is the rains fault. That is all I know."
With that, the bass dived under the surface of what sparrow now realized was a very murky and dirty lake. Sparrow felt relieved that the bass had stopped him. He was also scarred, too, not knowing what could cause the rain to go bad.
Very thirsty, but not wanting to drink any water from that lake, sparrow flew into the city he had seen on the way to the lake. Sparrow passed by big smoke stacks coming out of large buildings. The smoke drifted up to the sky to catch up with the smoke from the larger smoke billows. But the sky wasn't blue. It was gray, but
sparrow didn't see any clouds. Finally, sparrow found a water fountain where a small puddle of water had pooled. He drank until his thirst was quenched. As soon as he was finished, sparrow left that big city as quickly as he could. Never turning back to look at that gloomy gray sky next to that dirty lake.
As sparrow flew away, he found himself lost deep in thought. He was thinking about all the things that he had come to take for granted living in the small town he was from. Clean air for example, it seemed he just expected it. The same for clean water. Also he had always taken trees for granted. Whenever he was tired and he
needed somewhere to land, there always seemed to be plenty of trees. The way the men were cutting them down now, it seemed there might be a shortage of trees any time. If there was a shortage of trees there would be a shortage of homes for birds. Sparrow just couldn't imagine his old parents trying to fight with some younger birds for a space in a tree for their nest. Sparrow didn't want to imagine it either. With that resolution sparrow flew on trying to think of the best solution for the problem. So lost in thought was sparrow that he didn't even notice he had flown right into the middle of a flock of ducks flying south for the winter.
"Hey Buddy, where do you think you are flying?" a voice said and woke him out of his reverie.
Sparrow looked around and realized where he was. In the middle of a flock of ducks. Ducks don't like sparrows or any other smaller birds, for that matter. Since ducks are bigger than most birds and they fancy themselves world travelers they looked down on smaller birds. Ducks thought sparrows were cowards. It was this realization that made sparrow decide to tell the ducks about his journey.
"I am on a long trip trying to help a friend out with his problem, " replied sparrow.
"Ha!" said the biggest duck, "Since when did sparrows start taking such journeys? Also, when did they start flying so high and so far away from everything?"
"Really!" cried Sparrow. "I am on a trip to help a friend of mine. Little tree is his name and..." Sparrow went on to tell the story of little tree and the reason for his long journey.
"Oh, stop! You're breaking my heart!" Shouted the big duck, "Come on guys. Why should we care if they are cutting down trees? I mean, it doesn't effect us! When have you ever seen a duck build a nest in a tree?" and with that the big duck hit the sparrow with his wing and sent him spiraling down towards the ground.
Right before sparrow hit the ground, he caught his balance and started flying upwards again. Flying down towards him, sparrow saw a duck. His first impulse was to fly away and hope that the duck did not catch him. Then, realizing that was probably what the duck wanted, thinking the sparrow a coward, he kept a steady trail upwards.
When the two birds met, sparrow was surprised by the first words the duck said to him. "I'm sorry." Those were the only two words the duck said as he fell into flight with the sparrow. As sparrow studied the duck he could see that he was truly sorry and
began to wonder if he had found a new friend. Before long, sparrow could not control his curiosity anymore. "What are you doing here duck? Why don't you go and catch up with your flock?"
"My flock is wrong, sparrow. They don't care about anything as long as it doesn't effect them. I, on the other hand, do care. I think everything effects everybody in the long run. Sparrow, I came to help you, if you need me. Or more to the point, if you will let me."
Surprised, all he could say was, "thank you." Then the duck and the sparrow flew in silence until they reached little tree.
Late that afternoon, Sparrow and duck finally arrived at little tree. Sparrow was so tired from the journey that he could hardly speak.
"Sparrow! You came back! Tell me, did you find my parents? Are they all right?" cried little tree.
"Yes, I saw them. They are fine. I will tell you all about our talk tomorrow but, first I need some rest. It has been a very long trip for a sparrow." Then sparrow sat down on one of the little trees branches and fell quickly to sleep.
While sparrow slept, duck and little tree introduced themselves.
"You have found quite a friend, " said duck. "I thought that anyone who would do such a noble thing for someone else, had to be my friend. So, I followed him here."
"Yes," said little tree, "I am very lucky."
The next morning, sparrow awoke refreshed, but, when he realized where he was, a sense or weariness washed over him. He was not looking forward to telling his friend, little tree, about his parents.
"Good morning," chirped sparrow. "Thank you for letting me sleep so long. I know you have to be going crazy with curiosity."
"Yes," little tree replied. "Please tell me now."
Sparrow told him all about his trip from the trucks full of trees to the strange bass that he met. He ended his story by telling little tree about meeting duck.
"So, you see, little tree, we need to find a way to stop this all. You dreamt of everything that is happening, surely you can dream of a way to stop it. If you can find an answer, duck and I will help you in any way we possibly can."
"I don't know. I hardly dream anymore. I have tried to stop my dreams for so long now. I don't know if I could make myself dream. Besides, it is so horrible to dream and to see terrible things. I don't know if I want to." replied little tree.
"But, don't you see, little tree. The dreams shouldn't be so horrible, because they should have a happy ending. The ending should be the solution to your problem. To everybody's problem. If you work on dreaming the solution, it shouldn't be so hard. Should it?" asked Sparrow.
"I don't know. I just don't know. Sparrow, please just let me think about it for a while. Please."
“O.K., I can't force you to do this but, remember, the longer you wait the closer the men come to your parents." said sparrow. "I am going to find some breakfast. Are you coming duck?"
"No. I think I will wait around here for a while. This parking lot should be filling up pretty soon and some of the men will surely bring me some bread crumbs."
Sparrow flew off and little tree fell into deep thought. Little tree was so deep in thought that he fell asleep. This wasn't surprising. Little tree had hardly slept since sparrow had first left on his trip. Last night he didn't sleep at all because, as
sparrow had said, he was practically "crazy with curiosity". But now little tree slept. In his subconscious, he was fighting with himself not to dream. He was thinking of his mother and father and then thinking of his bad dreams. Thinking of sparrow's story, and his asking him to dream and his own reluctance. He didn't want to have anymore bad dreams. His life was bad enough. He lived alone on a tiny patch of grass with no friends, until sparrow and duck. Why did he need anymore bad dreams? Then little tree saw a picture in his mind, or was it a dream? It was little tree with his mom and dad and they were all smiling. They all seemed so happy. It must have been the past when they were all together. He realized it wasn't the past. It was what the future was to be, that is, if he found the answer.
The picture went blank and little tree fell into a deep sleep.
It was a memory that created a dream. First he saw his mom with him when he was just a tiny tree. She was telling him that story he always loved to hear. The story of the Mother of All that took care of the earth. In his mind he could hear his mother talking.
"Son, I wish could have seen her. She is so beautiful. Tall and stately like a tree and yet she ran like a fawn. She had a voice like the sweetest song of a bird and she watches over us all, like a mother. I haven't seen her since I was a little girl, but I can remember her like it was yesterday."
"Why doesn't she come around anymore, Mom?"
"Well, from what I understand, it had to do with the men. When I was a very young tree, the earth was young and very few men inhabited the earth. Sure, there was a tribe here and there, but one could go for hundreds of miles and not see one single man. And the men that could be found heard the song of the trees in the wind.
They understood us. They loved us...."
As sparrow pecked at the ground, he felt guilt come over him. Maybe he had been too rough on little tree. He shouldn't force him to do something he really didn't want to do. After all, it wasn't his parents. But then the thought came back to him. It would effect his parents and himself if something wasn't done. Still, it was unfair to put all that pressure on little tree. If a solution had to be found, and it did, he guessed he could find it himself. He had a lot of friends. He knew that one little sparrow couldn't stop the men, but there was strength in numbers. Hoping that little tree had rested and dreamed, sparrow flew back to the parking lot.
"You must go to visit the Mother of All", said little tree excitedly when sparrow returned.
"I saw her in a tree like I have never seen before. I know it was a great banyan tree that my dear grandmother told me the story of many times. This very special tree, considered by many a tree of enlightenment, can be found at, " and little tree gave them directions. " At dusk, just before the sun sets, you know the time when that haze fills the air with wonder and magic, you will see the doorway to the mother of alls abode. You must see her and she will tell you what to do.”
Sparrow and duck agreed that they would leave at dawn and settled down to rest up for the long journey.
The new friends took off refreshed the next morning, looking forward to meeting the mother of all and finding the solution. They only hoped it wouldn’t be too late, so they flew as fast as their wings and the wind would carry them. Duck, in his fervor had to turn around many times and fly back to the little sparrow that couldn’t
keep up with Ducks strong strokes.
Just as the haze of the end of the day began to settle, Duck and sparrow arrived at the Banyan Tree. As they watched for the magic time to arrive, they held thier breath. Not only in anticipation but also in awe of the beauty that surrounded them. Never had they seen such a sunset in all their lives. The colors were spectacular. They were so taken by the sunset that they almost missed their opportunity to enter the magical tree.
“Duck Come on! The door is closing!” said sparrow and they both ducked quickly into the great trees base.
As they caught their breath, they heard somebody clear their voice from behind them. They both turned with a start.
“Hello, boys. You almost missed your entrance! I have it on good authority that you wouldn’t have been able to enter this door for at least a week. We have a large storm system moving in that won’t clear the skies for days now. Good save!”
There she was. The Mother of All. In Duck and Sparrows race to get there they didn’t take the time to think about who they would be facing. What Beauty. What Grace. What simplicity. How down to earth. Wow!
“We are so glad to meet you. Thank you for seeing us!” Sparrow said. Duck didn’t appear to be able to speak at all, he was just standing there with his bill hanging open.
Sparrow nudged duck and Duck said, “Uh, Oh , yeah, thank you….” And smiled awkwardly.
“Well come on boys, we need to talk. There isn’t much time. We have to take care of this problem before its too late.”
“There is a lady with two beautiful daughters living on the coast of Oregon in one of my blessed Rain Forests amongst great beauty. You must find her and tell her your story. This lady will understand and she will immediately go to work and write your story down. She will write down the story for the children. For the ones
who hearts and eyes have not been closed. These children will hear and they will make the difference. The changes that must be made will be made by them. They will speak for the trees, for the creatures, for the earth, for themselves. They are the saviors. Go to her now!” She smiled, kissed them both and showed them out. And then the brave woman, the Mother of All, cried. For, what if the children didn’t listen. What would happen then?
Sparrow and Duck found the lady’s house. They knew it instinctively by the two beautiful girls playing in the yard with such soulful eyes. They spoke to the girls without any fear. The bigger of the two, Tate, smiled happily at the two birds and said, “I’ll go get my Mom! She has been waiting for you!”
And with that, the story began.