Great Grandmother Tree
By Jesse Greist

Great Grandmother Tree sprouted up from the Earth so long ago, no one had any idea how old she was. Eagles that flew overhead told their children that the whole forest began with that one tree and had been growing outward like ripples on a pond for centuries. She was the source of wisdom, the source of sanctuary and even the source of life itself for many in the forest.
There was great mystery about her. The animals and plants and even the stoic mosses of the North side had legends about her which were whispered in dark caves and fragrant groves near and far. In her younger days, one such story went, there was a time when the river had nearly dried up and everyone was thirsty. Great Grandmother Tree didn’t panic. Instead, she reached deep into the ground and pulled water out of places no one knew existed. When she exhaled, this water rose into the sky and made dark clouds form. The clouds then sent rain down and filled the river again. All the animals drank deeply and gave thanks to Great Grandmother Tree. She was truly a transpiration to all. Her stories were told and retold through the years to all those that came to sit under her branches. From her, the squirrels and birds learned to receive her seeds and enjoy them, but not to hide them away. Rather, she urged them to share, to give and to plant, so that her offspring could grow and provide for their children and children’s children as well. She provided a home for insects, animals, lichens and smaller plants too. Everything she had was shared freely, and life was good.
But as the years went by, and the forest grew, storms began to come. Everyone in the forest was used to the occasional rumble of thunder, splash of rain, and gentle coat of winter snow, so at first they simply hunkered down and shrugged the storms off. Even though the wind felt just a bit wilder and the rain felt just a bit harder and the water rose just a bit more, they didn’t get concerned. What they did not know was that the humans that had grown great cities just beyond the forest’s edge, had been very busy and some of their activities had changed the Earth. Because of these changes, the storms were getting wilder and wilder, with strong winds and pelting rains, thunder and lightning that made even the bravest of animals shudder with fear. The river that sustained everyone rose higher than ever before and with it the fear of floods grew too.
Great Grandmother Tree did her best to protect her children and weathered many of these storms, but eventually one particularly large storm blew through, causing branches to snap, leaves to disappear and animals to hide for longer than they’d even hidden before. When the sun finally came out, everyone slowly emerged and checked on biome brothers and sisters. They were shocked to find their worst fear had come true: Great Grandmother Tree was lying on her side across the forest floor, her branches no longer reaching for the sun, but gently touching the roots of her oldest children.
A great cry rose up through the forest as the voices of wolves, birds, bees, and all manner of plants and animals began to mourn the passing of their greatest spirit. “What will we do now?” they asked. “How can we go on without her?” It was Springtime, which was normally a joyful time in the forest. It was usually the time when new plants spring up, new leaves unfurl, flowers spill color everywhere, and the air is full of the cries and buzzing of new babies eager to learn the ways of the world. But this spring was quieter. Without their source of wisdom, shelter and sanctuary, many felt lost and alone in the world.
But, as the weeks passed, they discovered something amazing. Great Grandmother Tree had left a final gift for them. A final story to be told and retold through the ages. What no one had noticed when she fell was that she had scattered thousands of seeds onto the forest floor. And in her falling she had opened up a sunny, spacious glade in a part of the forest where no sun had touched the ground for years. As the animals and plants gathered to mourn their great-grandmother, they found themselves astounded by the abundance of life that began to spring up where she had stood. A thousand small, vibrant trees sprouted and grew quickly, bathed in sun and rain, fed by Great Grandmother herself. Fungi and mosses, flowers, birds and insects found new homes in her trunk, which was now closer to them than ever. Great Grandmother tree had, in falling, reproduced herself a thousand times, given life to a thousand times a thousand living beings, and the Great Grandchildren each lived a thousand years more, doing all they could to keep the stories alive and the storms at bay.