Pine

It was on a hot spring day that he woke up, the snow melting and penetrating the ground thus reaching him. From a small, tight shell he desperately took advantage of every bit of liquid left in his reach. After drinking, he felt too strong and too big for the skin. Soon, he broke it in two and for the first time experienced the light, the wind, and the great mother earth. He wanted more, he wanted to grab the light to scorch the earth and protect himself from the wind. To embrace the earth he penetrated its roots in it, deep down to the underground rivers, and under the great rocks. To catch every ray of light he encountered, he stretched out its branches and raised its leaves. Over time, he gained a shell to protect himself from the wind. One day a lumberjack came to the pine forest and fell in love with its long leaves, slender branches, robust trunk, and long roots. The woodcutter started to visit the pine every day. During the summer droughts he supplied him with water, during the spring he brought bees to pollinate his flowers, during the autumn he fertilized his land so that he had the strength to survive in the winter, during this, he covered his roots with forage so that they would not freeze. After many years the man became old and the pine became the largest and most beautiful of the entire forest. In beautiful autumn, when the pine tree had already given flowers and pine cones, the woodcutter came with his children to visit the pine tree. They did not bring buckets of water or fodder, bees, or compost. They brought huge saws that they normally used to prune the pine. The pine did not like the saws, but after a while, he had learned that pruning made him stronger, so he relaxed and waited for the saw. The woodcutter started to cut the pine bark with his children but did not stop there as usual. The pine trusted the woodcutter and closed his eyes falling into a deep sleep in the hope of avoiding the pain. The woodcutters arrived at the trunk and spread their sap on the ground, cut their bodies in half, separated their roots from their beautiful leaves, so the pine tree died. The last thing he saw, his leaves were falling, and he heard his body thud against the forest floor, which never felt as cold as it did at that moment.