Look to the Trees

It was a blistering hot Florida summer day. I was starving and thirsty. There were no resources and the odds of me coming out alive was very slim. Something was going to eat me or I was going to die of starvation if I did not find shelter and something to eat soon. 

“Look to the trees,” were my mother's last words before she was killed. Her and I lived out here alone for as long as I can remember though she never told me why. We moved through the woods never making a home in one spot and so that's what I intended to do because now she was gone.

She’s Gone.   

She’s Vanished.

I will never see her again.

I couldn't bear to think these thoughts. I had no time. She would not want me to think like that. 

I must find Food. 

I must find Shelter

I must Survive. 

Those were the new thoughts that entered my head. As I came to a small clearing in the woods, the sun told me that it was about noon. I needed to find a place to sleep soon because I would not last a second during the night. I would be eaten before I even had time to gather my surroundings. 

“Look to the trees.” My mother's voice repeats in my head over and over again. I looked up at the trees and got upset. 

“There are only leaves!” I screamed out loud, knowing that it would not help anything. “A trunk with leaves that’s all it is!” Upset, I sat down on the ground and leaned up against a log. 

The next thing I knew, my eyes shot open and it was dark. I was confused until I realized that I must have fallen asleep. I was surprised that I hadn't been eaten yet. I stood up so that I could gather my surroundings and immediately after I stood up I heard a growl. I looked around and saw that I was surrounded by a huge pack of wolves. 

“Look to the trees,” I heard my mother's voice say again. 

I roll my eyes realizing how stupid this was going to sound but said it anyway. “Ummm trees. If you can hear me, I am looking to you right now.” Like I expected, nothing happened. “Great,” I said out loud even though there was no one to hear me. The wolves had me completely surrounded and they were moving in closer. 

I turned around to see if they were still behind me when I noticed a rope ladder hanging from a huge tree. I slowly walked over to it but it was too high for me to grab. The wolves got even closer to me. Without thinking about what I was doing I said, “Mr. or Mrs. Tree, could you please lower this ladder so that I don’t die?” To my surprise the ladder quickly lowered so that I could reach it. I scurred up the ladder which seemed to go on forever. I climbed the ladder through branches and leaves until I finally reached a big beautiful tree house. 

This tree house was not a normal one you would find in a child’s back yard, this one was way better. It had many different levels and different rooms to each level. If this is what my mother meant when she said look to the trees I would be thankful for the rest of my life. How did she know about this? Then I wonder why she had never brought me here before and why we made beds with leaves and sticks when there were real beds in the tree house. But I know her reasoning must have been for a good purpose. 

After exploring the magnificent tree house for a while I looked in some cupboards and other places for some food or something to drink. I looked everywhere but there was nothing. I guess whoever built this couldn't keep food in here because animals might take it or it would rot. I decided to tell the tree that I was hungry even though I felt very stupid talking to a big peice of wood. “Thank you so much Mr. Tree for providing all of this for me.” I said in almost a sarcastic voice. “Do you think that you could give me some food and water because if I die, all of this tree house would not be used and that would be horrible.” Even though it sounded really crazy it worked! On one of the counters, a whole cooked turkey that was already seasoned and everything just appeared. My jaw dropped. This tree had to be magic or something because I am pretty sure that normal trees can not do that. I had never seen something that looked so good. 

I ate half of it quickly and put the rest in a cupboard to save for later. Then I went to go see if the wolves were still there. As I climbed down the long ladder I could hear them growling so I decided to not go down any further.

Only then I realized that I was thirsty so I thought that I would ask of a favor from this mysterious tree one last time for the day. “Mr. Tree, thank you again for providing for me. May I please have some water if it is no trouble?” Just then the leaves above me started to violently shake and from their shaking came rain water. Trusting that the tree would give me clean water, I titled my head back and let some of the water fall into my mouth. To my surprise the water was cold and tasted clean. 

After a long and pleasurable drink I went and sat down on one of the neatly made beds in the top level of the tree house. The last thing I remember about that day was my eyes closing and my head gently falling back on the extremely soft pellow. 

Somehow, my mother knew about the trees. Somehow she knew that they would help me someday. Somehow although she was not visible, I felt her there with me.