The Wind Beneath Their Leaves

It's a warm Autumn day in the bustling city in which I live, the squirrels play in the parks and though it's rush hour on a Tuesday, the world seems quiet. As I walk home this evening, I feel the ground tremble beneath my feet, suddenly, I am transported through space and time to a land I have never seen before. Nothing. Nothing for hundreds of miles, just trees, everywhere you look. "Where am I? Something seems... off about these trees." I say as I approach one of the large trees. They're as huge as the Empire State building, with purple leaves and grey bark. As I step nearer to the tree in my path the ground begins to move and churn. Suddenly the land is trembling so heavily beneath me that I can scarcely stand. "WHO GOES THERE?!" I hear a thunderously deep voice shout out at me. I look around and to my astonishment, it is the tree I was approaching. Paralyzed by my fear I am unable to utter a single word in response, realizing I have forgotten to breathe for the past minute I gasp for air. My lungs fill and empty a few times before I collapse, completely unconscious, and at the mercy of the wilderness.

Eventually, I awake. I am unsure how much time has passed, and I am still clueless as to my location, however, it seems my scenery has changed. I manage to fumble a sentence from my lips, still ever so quietly as to not upset the giant, sentient tree species I am in the presence of. Startled again by the same words that took my breath from me, I hear, "WHO GOES THERE?!". Although this time it is followed by something that shook me to my core.

"We don't take kindly to people folk here, we thought we taught your kind a lesson when last you invaded our lands."

Afraid to speak I bow my head, place my face in my palms, and cry. "I don't know where I am, or how I came to be here. I'm sorry I am here, please don't hurt me!"

Suddenly, laughter fills the air, as though in the theater on comedy night, only louder. It is as if I had said something so humorous, they were overcome by joy and hilarity. What could be so funny about me pleading for my safety? I make my way onto my feet and I stand, my head as far back as I can hold it without falling backwards. I just stand, here in the middle of this large, round clearing in the forest, my knees are shaking profusely, and my voice quivers in fear before the humongous sentient tree standing in front of me.

"What's so funny?" I asked, too afraid to say more.

"We have never hurt your kind." He replied

" We have only every provided all of the air you need to breathe, we have patiently helped you survive since the dawn of time. How do people folk repay us? Slaughter, that's how. We are at your mercy, as you see it is against nature for us to retaliate" He continued.

"What do you mean against nature?" I asked inquisitively.

"It has been deemed by deities that we shall not harm even though we shall be harmed, so we have created forests of mazes that people folk cannot enter. This is our defense, our only defense. Though admittedly, some still retaliate, but these few who do lose their lives in the process."

"Lose their lives? What do you mean?" I asked in response.

""In ancient times there was an abundant Maple forest. One day, the people folk discovered the sweet delicious taste of the Maples' life source. The single people folk who discovered this sweetness ran back to his village. He told everyone he knew about the sweet, sticky syrup he had discovered. At first they didn't believe him, they had never heard of something so delicious tasting, so they dismissed him. The single people folk went back to the the Maple forest, he managed to peel away the bark of a Maple, exposing her bare trunk, he found a bit of syrup, just enough to collect as a sample. Soon thereafter, the people folk of the village created specialized weapons to harvest the life source of the Maples'." He said, all the while I could hear the gentle sobs of the forest in which I stand.

"Harvest? This sounds terrible! What happened to the Maples? I replied.

"One day they had enough, the Maples banded together and made a decision. They began to reserve as much of their life source as possible, and the flooded the village, none survived. It was only days after their victory that the entire forest was set ablaze in a storm created by the deities. Every last Maple of the forest perished."

I look to him as tears begin to well in my eyes. Never have I heard a tale so devastating. I must do something, I must save these trees.

"How can I help you survive the agony that people folk put you through?" I asked, determined to receive an answer.

Suddenly, I begin to hear sirens, and car horns. An obvious look of confusion places itself upon my face. The atmosphere begins to wave around me, I become dizzy, and the world goes dark. Eventually I gain consciousness. A man in a paramedic uniform stands above me, checking my vitals, making sure I am still alive. Both relieved and saddened that my experience with these sentient trees was just a dream, I jump to my feet. I am still dizzy, but I run to the park that I was walking past before my obvious collapse of mind and body. I approach the largest tree in the park and place my hand gently on its trunk.

"I'm sorry, I need you to know I will do everything I can to help you. I will not, and can not sit idly by and watch as these horrors take place any longer." I whispered to the tree.

A few months go by and I am now well researched, I go to a forest, not very close to home. I have found out that a rare species of trees are being ripped down, and thrown into wood chippers. I, in blind rage, do the only thing I can think to do. I find a nearby chain, and with a lock I had packed just in case, I chain myself to the biggest tree in the forest. I had a feeling I would be needing a megaphone, so I brought one. I just knew I would be yelling at people to change their ways. Here I am, a small and majorly insignificant person, chained to a tree in a work zoned forest. I begin chanting into my megaphone.

"LET THEM LIVE, LEAVE THE BE! LET THEM LIVE, LEAVE THEM BE!" I chanted for hours, but to no avail. I was was arrested, my tree friends slaughtered, and all hope lost.