Slice Of 'Tree' Life

(Author: LordFinn, Discord: LordFinn#6418)

-Am I an apple tree?

Finally, spring had come. The flowers bloomed and the warm colours of the forest were back. Migratory birds were preparing their new home. The animals in caves woke up from hibernation. Almost all of the snow was melted. The trees greeted each other with their bright green leaves which different shapes.

There are various trees in the forest, there were sycamore trees, beech trees, pine trees and the only apple tree all by itself.

This apple tree was examining its surroundings with astonishment. It was possible to observe that some of its leaves flicker at regular intervals.

Marwa didn't remember his past. He was just making some movements with his instincts. But he realized that it was impossible for him to move as he was accustomed.

He couldn't remember his name. He didn't remember what he was doing before. He didn't remember where he was. Despite this, his memories could recover as he saw similar and familiar objects that he knew before. When he realized the woody features of his body, he remembered the information about a tree, in particular, an apple tree and he was able to establish what he is now.

When he tried to move, he was able to remember information about human's shape. He understood that he had changed. Maybe he was a human before.

Marwa could see the surroundings, and what he was most curious about was the existence of his eyes. Because the plants in his memories had no eyes. He wanted to pull his branches to himself and feel. But every move was very tiring and the feeling of senses was insufficient. The feeling of losing his leaves are the same feelings of human beings when they are losing their hairs.

Even the smallest movement was taking all of his energy and leaving him exhausted. That's why Marwa didn't try to move any further. He was only watching and feeling this new and colourful world he had encountered with his red apples.

Tree trunk, branches, roots and leaves... He could perceive different feelings from all over his body. He could see the maggots, who were bothering him, in the tree. The red ants were working hard on his branches. At a place close to the trunk of the tree, a white big owl was asleep with its eyes closed. There was a pigeon's nest at the end of one of its branches. Two yellow and ugly baby birds were looking at their surroundings. Their mothers perhaps told them to stay quiet. They were never making any sounds. They were pretty cute.

When Marwa observed these animals, he was able to remember some information about them. If his woody body had a mouth, it could be seen that he is smiling.

Marwa noticed another animal that he had not noticed before. A scarlet scorpion was clinging to his tree trunk and standing there for hours without moving. The scorpion was just the size of a human finger and was not that interesting. Marwa watched this scorpion for hours in wonder. He didn't have anything else to do, though. The scorpion had only moved once a day. He came back after wandering over many apples. Marwa found his movements meaningless.

The days of the apple tree were spent watching the surroundings. Spring has passed and summer started. Nature was not as green as before. Animals were spending their time in the shadows of the trees to protect themselves from this hot weather.

The mother of the little pigeons came back and was taking care of them. The owl is a type of bird that only leaves and hunt at night. Tiny scorpion continued its boring life at the same tempo. The only difference was that the real owners of this forest were awakened.

Many holes were drilled in the soil and hundreds of winged white snakes emerged from the ground. Marwa was amazed at first, but he could remember that these were 'Laddon' creatures. The wings coming from behind their heads of the Laddons resembled those of the bats. Although these snakes lived in groups, they were rarely encountered by humans. The reason for that was, they preferred the most deserted areas in order not to be disturbed during long winters. They wouldn't look for a certain food. They could eat everything, meat or grass.

The Laddons were the creatures that no one wanted to approach due to the electric current in their bodies. A bite could even paralyze the biggest creatures.

But since the Laddons increased the energy value of the land they are sheltered during the winter sleep, many people tried to be close to them.

Although there were hundreds of snakes around the apple tree, luckily the Laddons were not voracious animals. After swallowing an apple from the tree, they returned to their small caves or continued their mating dances. An apple was enough to keep them satiated for weeks.

***

One day, while the apple tree was watching the sunset, a gigantic stone lion appeared in the woods. As this gigantic grey lion walked, the trees in contact had to bend. This stone creature was very heavy and was leaving deep pits in the places where it pressed the paws.

While the lion was aimlessly moving through the woods, the apple tree with bright red fruits attracted the attention. Marwa observed the lion curiously. Some trees could not stand the weight of the lion and were torn. Although he saw what happened, he could not feel fear. This was perhaps the only advantage of the plant body. He couldn't feel pain.

The Gray Stone Lion stood in front of the apple tree and soon looked at the apples that drew his attention. He brought his nose close to apples and tried to sniff. But he wasn't able to breathe or sniff.

At that time, Marwa remembered the lion.

"Kiklope Guard Lion!" Marwa was glad he remembered something new. This lion was a semi-living, half-puppet creature belonging to the one-eyed Kiklope race. They were able to produce only one each year and transform them into the guards of the temple. This lion was a very strong and unstoppable creature. The only bad thing was that, it was uncontrollable during the first week after it was produced. The spirit in the stone statue would slowly calm down in a week.

"It's actually the same as me," Marwa said, carefully observing the lion.

When the stone lion could not smell anything, it began to eat apples. It ate all the apples and even some branches in a barbaric way. The apple tree looked like it was attacked. When Stone Lion couldn't find any more apples, he looked around him. There was no other apple tree. And he never had a taste from the apples he ate. He couldn't feel anything. He opened his mouth and roared angrily in a way that awakened the whole forest.

*ROARRRRRR*

Marwa watched the frustrated lion disappearing in the forest. He didn't hear that the stone lions could eat. He was surprised, and also glad to see someone similar to him. But he was also upset when he saw the similarity of his situation.

***

It was the end of summer. The apple tree was sunbathing as usual. He had no apples on it and some of his branches were broken.

When there were no more apples, the Owl had left the tree. When the little red scorpion couldn't find the apples it patrolled every morning, he chose to wait like a sculpture. Maybe it was already dead…

The two chicks in the pigeon nest grew quite a bit and they would be able to fly soon. They were calling to their mothers in joy. On the other hand, the mother pigeon was cleaning the maggots on the tree and feeding her children.

These creatures that accompany Marwa every day were like his family. All he could do was watch their life. When he tried to talk to them once, the sound and the wind he created only frightened the animals. Maybe that's why the owl left...

Even if Marwa couldn't control his body as he wanted to, he found that living like a plant strengthened him. Sunbathing, breathing and sleeping was renewing its energy.

The weather was beginning to cool, and Laddon Snakes were living their last busy days before hibernating.

These snakes could eat everything, but so far, the apples met all their needs. When they saw there were no more apples, most Laddon snakes returned to their nests. Only a few of them were trying their luck in other trees.

A bulky and lazy Laddon snake returned to the apple tree when he couldn't find anything that intrigued him in other trees. It was unreasonable to stay awake if there was no food. He looked at the apple tree one last time. There were really no more apples left. He gulped. But as he was returning to his nest, two pigeons on a branch caught his attention.

*Tssss*

White snake opened its wings and rose. His black eyes were studying two tiny white pigeons.

Marwa was used to the snakes that wandered around and ate his apples. Even after the apples were over, they often visited. But in the last days, the snakes had begun to sleep and it was hard to meet them.

When he saw the snake floating in the air, he didn't care. Then he heard the chirping of pigeons in panic and fear. The pigeons sound was different from what he heard every day. From these birds' chirping, he was able to predict the wishes of them due to his long observations. The baby pigeons were calling their mother.

Marwa was not able to see the mother pigeon in his surroundings. The snake was quite confident and comfortable with the idea of being the strongest. He slipped into their nests, ignoring the screams of the pigeons. These adorable creatures, who didn't know how to fly, were in fear, flapping wings.

Marwa couldn't wait for the mother pigeon to come anymore. He had to do something. He tried to move his branches, but he couldn't. He didn't have enough energy. He could sense his soul falling tired even before he could move. Even so, he wouldn't stop trying!

The snake dropped one of the pigeons out of the nest with its wings. The small bird fell quickly to the ground even though it stopped for a short time in the air. The snake did not examine the other pigeon and directly opened his mouth.

-Nooooo!

Marwa couldn't watch any more and shouted with all his might. The result was just a small breeze. This breeze caused a few leaves of the apple tree to fall.

Marwa did his best, but he couldn't help it. But the fallen leaves from the tree flew slowly and stood on the snake's head. Marwa didn't want to watch any more. All he wanted was to sleep forever.

*Pat*

At that time, he heard a sound. When he opened his eyes, the white snake wasn't around. He could only see the end of its tail while it entered into one of the holes in the ground. The baby pigeon is still alive! Its sibling was trying to fly back under the tree. They were both alive!

When Marwa looked at the branch where the leaves fell, he saw a little red scorpion standing there. Its tail swung up and down. Was the little scorpion always there? Or did it fell with the leaves?

That was not important. The important thing is that the pigeons were alive. The tiny red scorpion fought with the snake for them.

Marwa felt a great relief. He was very happy. He could feel the energy in his veins was depleting, but his strength was strangely increasing.

He looked at the pigeons one last time. He didn't want any more hungry animals to bother them. He took a deep breath and gently closed his eyes.

Marwa fell into a deep and long sleep again.

The pigeons called out to their mothers in joy. While they were greeting each other, the broken branches, the fallen leaves and the red apples of the apple tree were rapidly regenerating.

If the apple tree had a mouth, it would be possible to see Marwa's smiling face in the deep sleep.