There once was a baby oak tree who lived among a large stand of pines, far away from other oak trees. At least, it seemed far away to him because he was so small and hadn’t developed the height yet to see over the top of the forest. He did his best, however, to make friends with the pines. The younger pines were nicer than the older pines, who tended to be much more bristly and prickly in nature, as pines are known to be. It makes sense that the more needles they get, the more needly they become.
In any event, he went about his
business that first summer as best as he could.
He may have lacked other oak tree friends, but the perfumed air around
the pine trees was undeniably wonderful.
Every day he breathed in the deep pine scent and was thankful for his tiny
little niche among them. Eventually he
did make friends with a few of the smaller pine trees, so his loneliness was
eased a bit.
But nothing lasts forever,
especially summer, and soon the days began to grow a bit cooler. The pine trees went about their business,
fragrant as always, but the little oak tree began to notice some changes in
himself. At first it was just a strange
feeling he had, but in a short time he began to notice his leaves were starting
to change color. He thought it was just
in his imagination in the beginning, but after a few weeks, their color was
noticeably changing. This pleased him
very much, at first, because he felt that it helped him to stand out and be
beautiful among a sea of pines.
 |
| The baby oak tree and his first big change. |
The smaller pine trees were
impressed and asked him how he did it.
The older pine trees just ignored him and rolled their eyes in secret
jealousy. He told the younger pine trees
that he had no idea how he had become so colorful but that he was glad he
had. To this, the older pine trees just
became even more resentful, and the younger pine trees noticed it. They began to think that the little oak tree
was lying to them and wanted to keep the colors all for himself. He tried to tell them that wasn’t true but
they wouldn’t listen, and the older pines remained silent and bristly as ever.
This went on for a while until the
little oak tree had only one tiny pine tree friend left. Still, he remained cheerful and kind and did
his best to be happy. But nothing lasts
forever, especially changing fall leaves, and soon the little oak tree began to
notice that he was losing leaves. Each
day, he lost more and more, and a terrible dread began to come over him. At last he could stand it no more, and cried
out in sorrow because he believed he was dying.
His little pine tree friend tried to comfort him, while all the other
pine trees, big and small, just laughed at him.
Now it happened that a peapod
pixie lived nearby and was awoken by all the ruckus going on, and it’s never a
good idea to interrupt a peapod pixie’s nap.
She crept over to the trees and listened carefully. She heard the sorrow and fear of the little
oak tree and couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. She heard the tiny pine tree trying to
comfort him, and it warmed her heart, which isn’t easy to do with a peapod
pixie. She also heard the cruel laughter
and jeering of all the other pines, and this made her very angry.
In a flourish of smoke and light,
the peapod pixie appeared among the trees, manifesting for all to see. She first went to the little oak tree and
explained what was happening to him and that he would be alright and that next
spring he would grow back even bigger and stronger. This made his heart soar and he sang the praises
of the pixie as loud as he could. Then
the pixie went to the little pine tree and patted her on the top and thanked
her for being so kind. Finally, the
pixie went to the larger pines and told them all off for enjoying the pain of
the little oak and not bothering to help him out.
“Oh, shut up, pixie!” they all
said and ignored her.
“You owe the oak tree an apology,”
she said, “and you will give it to him so I can finally get back to my peapod
and get some winter sleep.”
“And what can a tiny pixie like
YOU do about it?” they sneered.
Which was not a smart thing to say
to a peapod pixie, as anyone can tell you.
What, indeed. Well, here is what
the pixie did.
She sat at the base of a very
large pine and took a very long nap that lasted several weeks. Every so often, though, she would wake up,
and when she did, she would scour the forest floor and pick up every single
pinecone that had fallen and put it in a little pile, which she burned every
night. This went on and on until soon
the large pine trees were very afraid and begged the pixie to stop, but the
pixie would not listen. Every single
night, she burned all the pinecones until there were none left.
But that’s not all she did. She went and hunted for some acorns and
brought them back to the pines. At the
base of every tree except for the tiny pine tree that had been kind, she
planted several acorns, and she also planted them in any free spot she could
find. Now the pine trees were even more
afraid, and again they begged the pixie to stop and again she would not listen. Finally, the ground froze and the pixie went
back to her peapod for a long winter’s sleep.
But nothing lasts forever, even a
peapod pixie’s winter sleep, and soon spring came again. The pixie went back to visit the little oak
tree, who was now much larger and full of beautiful green leaves. He greeted her warmly and blew her a kiss. The little pine tree was a bit bigger too,
and she just winked at the pixie with a knowing smile. The larger pine trees stood at attention and
said nothing, for all about them, tiny little oak trees were emerging from many
of the places where the pixie had planted the acorns. In fact, it looked as though in a few years
the entire area would be populated by oak trees with only an occasional pine
here and there.
And that is what a tiny peapod pixie
can do about these things. So if you
ever run into one, I would advise you to keep your bristles and prickles to
yourself and just tell her that she is the loveliest shade of green you have
ever seen. Also, never kick an oak when
he’s down.
