Life as a tree was so boring you WOODn't understand. You see? Bad tree jokes. There was never anything to do, or anyone to talk to. That was until Cameron found me. Cameron was just a little boy who had the biggest imagination and who loved playing games. Cameron was in Kindergarten when I met him. Everyday after school he would come and sit right up against me or crawl up my trunk, either one. If he was upset, he’d sit against me and tell me everything that was on his mind, all while munching away on a succulent apple that my branches provided. When he’d have a lot on his plate, Cameron would spew word vomit, never staying on a topic for too long. He would also come to me with his wildest dreams, telling me how he dared to cross all seven seas and conquer all the beasts that lived below. I loved it when he came to visit me. He even carved his initials into my trunk. What says forever more than that? We loved being together. We loved each other. As the years went on, I noticed Cameron stopped coming by as much. He stopped visiting after school, and if he did he brought his friends. Our alone time grew thinner. When we did have time to ourselves, he would leave before the streetlights came on. Time went by slowly and Cameron started growing up too quickly. It made my branches hurt and my roots ache, so I decided to make a move the next time he came around,
“Come boy, come climb up my trunk, and swing from my branches and eat apples, and play in my shade and be happy!”
“I am too big to climb and play,” said Cameron “I want to buy things and have fun. I want some money. Can you give me some money?”
I wanted to do everything i possibly could to keep him happy and coming back to me, so I desperately told him:
“Im sorry, I have no money, I only have leaves and apples, Take my apples boy and sell them in the city and you will be happy”
And that's exactly what he did. It made me happy, for a while at least. Years passed since hes asked for my apples. I had thought about him and all the happiness my apples brought him every single day for a long while. I sat through many frigid winters shedding my leaves by myself. I grew lonely wondering when Cameron would come back for me. Until one summer afternoon. The sun was a honeycomb yellow and blazing like a titan’s fire wheel in the sky on my leaves, but the breeze rushing through my branches felt amazing. My mind constantly wanders back to Cameron and how much better the day would be with him resting upon my trunk, speaking what's on his mind and just being happy. Oh Cameron that's all ive ever wanted, for you to be happy. Then ‘SNAP’, a twig snapped beneath someone's foot. Who could that be? Cameron is that you?
“Come boy, climb up my trunk and swing from my branches and be happy!”
“I am too busy to climb trees. I want a house to keep me warm. I want a wife and I want children and so I need a house. Can you give me a house?” begged Cameron.
Overjoyed by his presence, I replied quickly with “I have no house, the forest is my house, but you can cut off my branches and build a house then you will be happy.”
THE GIVING TREE
AS RETOLD BY LAURA DUDA