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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story that weaves together multiple lives through their connection to a particular tree.

Posted in Spring on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 246 stories

“In the Garden of Hesperide” by Aaron Measer

Submitted to Contest #90

Danny came to see me today, Sara. You would have been proud. He was all dressed up in his Navy blues, his white cap and metal pins bright as ever. He seemed happy. Not as angry. I think you were right, as always. I think he's going to be ok.  I've become nostalgic in my old age, spending my days and nights reminiscing about you and others, remembering how it was all those years ago. I remember some of those wild nights in our youth, and it makes me chuckle. We were the worst, weren't we, the trees that make us groan now? How we changed...

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“The rejected apple” by Yaj Imagination

Submitted to Contest #90

You can never tell something's value just by one look, for sometimes what is trash for others is gold for another. In a small hill behind the school, a little girl sits on the grassy field looking weary. She had puffy eyes, runny nose, and salty water falls within her eyes as she hold an apple close into her heart. It was now a rejected apple, which she once thought could help her make friends. Yet the other children only laugh at was she brought, for they were too spoiled with gadgets and toys, and couldn't understand the true worth of an a...

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“Roots of Fire” by Sofia C

Submitted to Contest #90

TW: burning There stood a tree. An ordinary, sturdy oak tree. It shed its leaves every winter, and smiled at the pastel sunsets in summer with curved leaves that whispered to the wind in wise murmurs that only the oldest souls know of. It knew it was dying, that too many clouds had shadowed it with their smiles and anger, with their soft faces and their limbs of thunder and lightning that struck out at the tree. It stood tall and waved at the sky, saying farewell to the birds showering squirrels with leaves of copper and gold. It was ready t...

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“The Two Marys” by Rahnyah Stormyst

Submitted to Contest #90

The Two MarysThe evening was chilly, and the lanterns lit the night. Eerie shadows danced upon the walls as the young boy named Azariah looked up and said. " Abba, I see three stars close to the moon." Simon came close and ruffled the hair of his son and looked up into the night sky and nodded." Yes, my son. There are three stars in the night sky. Shabbat Shalom." He looked to Yeshua and said," Ok, brother, tell your wife to bring the food. We hunger! "James said, "Simon! play the lute." Simon growled slightly and grabbed the lute, and began...

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“"If a tree falls in a forest…” by Leon Moss

Submitted to Contest #90

 …and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" A popular philosophical thought that raises questions regarding observation and perception. Well, does it make a sound? That’s absolute nonsense! I am a tree and I live in a forest. I’m 50 years old and I know these things. You can’t live in a tight social circle and not know the answers to simple questions. Trees hear trees. They hear them loud and clear. When a tree falls, in a forest or in any other place, what you hear is normally heard by humans on ...

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“Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree...” by Jeannie Labelle -Potvin

Submitted to Contest #90

It started long ago in the garden of Eden, when Adam said to Eve…”Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me!”The story begins as a bit of a game, turns into quite a drama and then? Well, the rest becomes history. The original characters, Adam and Eve share some rather complicated genetics. For starters, they have the same Father. Now, that is a long story best left for another telling. Suffice to say, it involves complicated transplant surgery and gender realignment. A Snake also appears and his story gets a little com...

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“Crimson Blue Blossom” by Kiamesha Denise Sims

Submitted to Contest #90

Preface: It was three days after when her beloved heard of her fate. To marry another and never return.  He knelt before a stump that was blossoming. “I curse this world and all it touches because of how cruel they’ve been to us,” “They will no longer know peace, joy, and knowledge,” he recited. He died from grief and the overwhelming power within after reciting this decree.  Freya flowed crimson tears as she gripped the blossom in her hands. The roots grounded her, trapping her in. Her wails saved the world for now.  It has ...

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“Once upon a Tree” by Scott Chadwick

Submitted to Contest #90

A tree is alive long before it acquires its place in the earth. An insignificant seedling untangles itself from a bird’s wing; I float down at the whim of the wind and, before long, I arrive onto the generous soil that will become my place in the world for the adventurous centuries to come. I use all of nature’s selfless circumstances, to thrive. I push below and rise above. Sunlight streams top to bottom over every grateful surface. Omniscient weather anticipates my each need. I need rain and rain arrives. Harmony abounds. Bucolic...

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“IN THE SHADOW OF THE BIG OAK” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #90

IN THE SHADOW OF THE BIG OAK “ Here, it is still there” Lucy said, with a wiggle of her chin to point  straight  , over there, at the end of the lawn. She was looking out the window. In front of the house there was a vegetable garden, with also some fruit trees, a plum tree, two pear trees, three cherry trees. Beyond the vegetable garden there was the lawn, of modest side, a strip of land which was not cultivated, to let grass grow, which later would have become hay.  Over there, at the end of the lawn ther...

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“Lady Mary, Bloody Mary” by Yvone Mthembu

Submitted to Contest #90

Thomas: Nancy did you say Osbourne? As in 576 Loftus Grove Osbourne? Nancy: Keep it down Thomas I told you that I could lose my job if the whole town becomes aware that Mr Osbourne has bought our park and his first item on the To do list is cutting down Lady Mary… Thomas: (screams) What? He can’t do that, that is not fair Lady Mary is not just a tree she’s our own anchor for heaven’s sake he can’t, he has already changed the name of our town, bought all the businesses and lives but not this he can’t Acey please tell me there’s a way we can...

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“ Leaf Song” by Sarah Ben Sabat

Submitted to Contest #90

The wind caresses me on this summer night, and my extremities clap in response to its stimulating touch. We have been playing this game for a long time. What a tease it is, but I can’t help but dance anyway, sometimes with my whole being...or at least the part of me that lives above the ground. My friends, the other trees, dance, as well, and together we sing with our leaves, in time with the gusts and flows of whichever wind blows on that day. When the wind is blowing from the East, we dance the delicate dance of spring buds and all things ...

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“The Oak Tree” by Rosie 95

Submitted to Contest #90

It all started with a tiny acorn on May 13th, nine years ago. I was seven at that time.  My family had just moved from Beijing, China. We knew very little English, and knew nothing of the culture. We were at the Chinese border when I saw a pretty rock. “Mamma! Don’t run over the rock!” I cried. Mamma had looked kindly at me, and stopped the car. I then raced out of the car, and snatched up the rock. Once I got back into the car, I showed mamma the rock. She laughed and said, “Chan-Juan, my dear, you have found an acorn! Plant it once...

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“The Tree of Prophecies ” by Ruby Skelton

Submitted to Contest #90

The tree knew everything. It saw everyone. But was it ever happy? Was it ever really alive? Now that matters on opinion, but did a tree really have an opinion? Does an immortal life even have a soul? Mia knew her dad didn't really love her, but she liked to tell herself that he did. She'd learned to cover the bruises pretty well, cheap makeup did the trick. But she couldn't keep it up forever, she had to find a way out. Most days after school she'd try to keep herself busy until it was utterly necessary to go home, but today was different. ...

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“Oak Tree” by Pako Dunwhile

Submitted to Contest #90

Once an insignificant acorn, the large oak tree grew its fragile roots deep into the fertile soil. A passing deer was chased away by a far away noise as the sapling enjoyed the fresh meadow air. On that spot the growing tree sprouted into the sky year by year. Its adolescent branches extended out becoming a home for all species of native birds and squirrels. Its trunk swelled to the official width of 48.9 inches around its dark trunk. A tree that would change a small frontier town forever. The citizens of Love-an-Oak prized havi...

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“Dream a Little Sycamore Dream ” by Aj Lumague

Submitted to Contest #90

June 1777The soft tread of moccasins on the ground of the New World has disappeared. Now it seems that the people are ghosts on the prairie and their feet grace only the forgotten hunting paths. They and nature have tasted the bitter tang of the cruelties borne by the pale-faced hand and even now, while more arrive on wooden boats, they can only wonder what more this will bring. Dozens of ships had docked here decades ago, bringing with them a new manner of beast and man, unlike the brown-skinned people of the plains. Moonfaced men...

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Title: The Tree Surgeon's Dictionary

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