Chapter 1 - l

The Great Oak’s branches spread over the forest like the wings of a giant bird. Many trees were dwarfed by the Great Oak’s magnificent appearance, her papery leaves turning red and orange and yellow, as sign that summer was leaving and autumn taking its place.
Her trunk was a deep chestnut, with a few hints of goldenrod thrown in. The yellow-speckled brown looked nearly polished in the light sifting in through the trees.
The Great Oak was merely a painter’s palette of colors, a painter that had left for a second piece of his mother’s warm apple crumb cake, and had forgotten his palette on a stool, all set to paint an autumn scene.
The Great Oak’s trunk was straight and tall, and every millimeter looked glowing and healthy. The trunk went up for a ways, then split up into thick branches where squirrels rested and played. Those branches then split up into smaller branches; and those into twigs. At the end of these twigs were soft bundles of colorful leaves nuzzling tiny auburn acorns.
The forest wasn’t always peaceful. Sometimes storms raged, thunder pounding and lightning coming close enough to burn those trees most unfortunate. But not often. Usually the weather was amazing, a hot day cooled by the presence of the trees. Though once every so often, only once or twice a year, an amazing day came. Does come out of their shadowy hiding places and sleep in the shade of trees. Robins and larks flit through the branches, and there is often the thwock, thwock, thwock, of a woodpecker overhead. The day would be warm, and then cooled to make the perfect temperature. The sun would hit the leaves just right, and the shapes the shadows made, instead of looking garish and harsh, would seem to welcome you in and sooth you.
On these days, colors seemed brighter, the animals more frisky and flamboyant, and the temperature as cooling as a glass of sweet lemonade on a summer day. And maybe it was just a trick of the light, but the Great Oak seemed to stand taller, prouder, as if she had created this perfect day. This would be one of those days when just living would seem like a thoroughly good idea.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment