The Floating Oak

By: Stamatis Kakleas

This is the story of a great white oak tree. A tree that stood tall and fortuitous. It was the only large tree for miles. “Rest here” it said, carved into a wooden plank on its side.

This is a story full of people who sought refuge and temporary shelter and shade under this tree. People who leaned on it so they could rest their feet and relax for a moment on their journeys. People who stood under it during the rain or a hot summer day.

This is the story of a community of people that grew around this great white oak tree; celebrating its existence and relying on it as a symbol of strength and fortitude. A small village grew around this oak tree and it became its epicenter.

This is a story of a fearless young girl who decided to climb to the top of this great white oak tree and was shocked by what she saw…

“You cannot climb this tree” the people told her. “It is dangerous and you will get hurt, you have no safety net or support!!”

“This tree IS my support” she told them, “It is ALL of ours” she shouted as she pointed around her. She grabbed her satchel and proceeded to climb this tree. People panicked and feared for this girl but she was not afraid. I may fall she thought, but I will have been the only person to have climbed to the top of this tree.

She was careful not to fall and despite the risk, she climbed higher and higher up the trunk of the tree. As she climbed she saw marks in its side, realizing that people had tried to climb it before. Eventually, the marks disappeared and she noticed she was reaching heights that no other person had been to. As she escalated, the noise of the community slowly faded beneath her and it was just her, the tree, and the sounds of its leaves brushing in the wind.

It was a difficult route and she had to be careful but she eventually reached the top of this tree where she would be able to relax in the branches and when she got there she couldn’t believe her eyes. She looked down this tree from the top of it and saw that it was hollow inside. She couldn’t believe how it was still standing, it was almost as if it was floating above the ground. Then she saw the community beneath this tree, surrounding it, and realized that the community was what was supporting this tree. The community that sought shelter and support from this great white oak was the very thing that was holding it up.

She looked down into this tree’s hollow trunk and and she smiled. “You are beautiful” she said to it and she reached into her satchel. She pulled out a handful of seeds and she started dancing and sprinkling them all over the tree. Across its branches and leaves and in its trunk and wherever else she could reach. Eventually, she ran out of seeds and she rested on its branches for a moment. She felt fulfilled as she sat in the embrace of this white oak’s branches but she soon remembered that she had to return back to town.

She climbed back down the tree and the people of the town were shocked. Some of them were curious what she saw, others were just happy she was ok, and a few were even angry that she would do something so reckless. “Please don’t ever do that again” and older woman begged of her, “you could get hurt!” The girl told her “thank you for your advice” and she walked away from this tree and the community surrounding it with a saddened smile.

It wasn’t until months later, in the spring time, that this tree started to sprout the most beautiful white lilies all over it and rained them all over the town. All the townspeople surrounded this beautiful white oak and were stunned by its beautiful flowers. “It was the girl!” someone shouted and they all recalled the young fearless girl that had climbed to the top of this tree. They all closed their eyes and thanked her, wondering where she had gone off to, not realizing that she was the one that saved this the tree because of her fearlessness and determination to climb to the top of it.

This is the story of a fearless young girl and a community that sought support from a great white oak tree and while some people held it up from the outside never questioning its fortitude, it took the will power of someone with a strong heart and remarkable courage to climb to the top and give it the seeds necessary to rebuild it from within.