The Tree of Misery

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom with a king who didn’t seem to care all that much. Some of the very old people remembered a time when he was there for them when he was trying to make things better for everyone, but those times were long gone. Nowadays he just spent his time all the way up in his tower, far away from the people he was supposed to serve.

And every evening, when the sun went down, the people saw him sitting there, all alone. They knew that the lonelier the king became, the more worries they would have. A lonely king is after all a king who can’t rule his kingdom. That’s why they gathered the most beautiful men and women amongst themselves and sent them up one by one, hoping that if the king would fall in love, he would start to care for all things in life again. They all offered themselves and one by one he sent them back down. 

“You are not special enough,” he would say.

“There’s nothing extraordinary about you. I am a king and therefore my love is for those with a soul that transcends that of all others.”

The king didn’t tell them everything though. The truth was that he was already in love with the sun. Every morning he woke up to her gentle touch as she started to rise. He would spend hours on his balcony talking to her, singing songs to her, letting her warm rays touch his skin. But no matter what he did, every evening she left him again. 

“Don’t go, my love,” he pleaded. 

“I need you! What can I do to make you stay?” 

She never listened. Always leaving him to watch her disappear with sadness in his eyes and questions in his heart.

Until one day the people of his kingdom sent another young man to appear in front of him. He was known to have the kindest smile and eyes full of wisdom. Surely he would bring the king joy. 

As the boy entered the room, he found the king with hanging shoulders, staring at the fading sun. 

“Hello,” said the young man. 

“Spare your breath,” replied the king. 

“You are not special enough. There’s nothing extraordinary about you. I am a king and therefore my love is only for those with a soul that transcends that of all others.”

The young man smiled and joined the king on his balcony. 

“By the look of grieve on your face, I can tell that you have already found someone to love enough to feel such sorrow in your heart.”

The king sighed and sat down on his chair, his head resting in his hands.

“I did find her, my beloved the sun. I give her all my love. All my joy and happiness, but every evening she leaves me again. I tried everything to make her stay but it’s never enough for her to let me enjoy her lasting presence.”

The young man sat down next to the king and looked at the sky. 

“You know, to truly love we have to allow our loved ones to be away from us sometimes.”

The king stood up.

“I don’t want to! If she truly loved me she would stay with me.” 

He looked at the young man with a burning rage in his eyes.

“Well, there are ways. See, the sun wants to bring joy and happiness. That’s what she lives for. Come, follow me.”

He took the king to the balcony.

“Look at all your subjects. The deep wrinkles around their eyes, their hanging shoulders. Of course she has to leave every evening after a full day of seeing so much misery. It wears her out.”

The king nodded and took a deep breath.

“But how could I bring them joy? I have nothing in common with them. They are just ants crawling around, doing things that don’t concern me.”

“There is one other way to solve it. In the middle of the forest, where the birds don’t sing and the grass doesn’t grow, you can find a tiny little tree that feeds on misery. If people leave the objects that contain the essence of their pain at this tree’s, it will absorb it, bringing relief in their hearts and a smile on their face.’

And so the next day the king stepped onto his balcony to address his people for the first time since as long as any of them could remember. 

“My people,” he started.

“I am tired of your worried faces ruining the beauty of this kingdom. Your moaning and crying polluting the gentle winds of spring. Gather all the objects that reflect your misery and go to the place in the forest where the birds don’t sing and the grass doesn’t grow. I want you to leave those objects at the root of the tree that grows there, for it will absorb all the pain held by your objects and thereby cleanse the rot in your souls.”

The people had never heard the king speak with such contempt to them. Still, they were relieved that there was finally a solution to all the pain that had piled up ever since the king had left them. 

And so the next day a huge line formed in the middle of the forest. A woman brought the wedding dress she wore when she was stood up, a couple the baby carriage of their diseased child and a man the gun he had used to fight and kill for the army... Thousands upon thousands of different objects for thousands upon thousands of different traumas. They threw it all violently at the root of the tree, finally feeling free and relieved. Never having to look back again at any ugly memory.

And the tree? Well, the tree did what was promised it would do. He sucked up all the pain and misery as the people kept on coming. He collected every little bit of suffering they had ever encountered. He grew just as fast as the pile at his roots did, his black and grey branches stretching higher and higher into the sky. 

And as the king watched from his balcony, waiting for the sun to finally stay, he saw how the tree started to tower over his entire kingdom. Its thick black branches and leaves leaving no space for a single sunray to ever shine through.