The Heart Of A Tree

Elicia ran through the forest covered by the veil of the night and fog. Without been able to see the way she was running to arrive her destination. The dark, rustling path full of trees and branches was long as Elicia couldn’t tell and without knowing the directions she was blindly following he hoped to get as soon as she could to the place she wanted, only if she didn’t get lost.

Stepping on mud puddles that stained her dress with brown dirt she kept running across the forest, guided only by her instinct and her hope.
Hope, that was the key.
A cool breeze of the fresh air grazed her chest, almost making her fall but with the strength of the perseverance for reaching the place she wanted, she continued, until the weather turned chilling and the fog was less thick. She had arrived to that special place, a pretty special place…

In front of her, a big and giant, coarse tree stood with majesty, shinning little round lights in its naked, strong branches.
Those weren’t normal lights… Those were lights of hope, and pain…
It was a place called the Miraculous forest, for people with the enough will and courage visited the place with the risk of getting lost, and those who found the tree that Elicia had in front of her, hanged their pains and sorrows which they couldn’t heal, turning the woes into shinning white lights hanging in the branches.
The tree didn’t need leaves, it had lots of lights that heralded its beauty, which were signs of sorrow and pain took by another being, just to be healed and bright with a sensation of hope.

Elicia approached the tree with respect, feeling deep love and fondness towards the miraculous tree which she believed would heal his pain. Staring with affection, she closed her eyes to focus on her vexed interior, feeling the power of her wild and untamed seas that constantly hit her heart with tides of madness and grief.
Hoping that her affliction would go away, she touched the tree with her hand, feeling the cold wood and her shivering grief to exchange sensations of shame and relief.
A branch approached Elicia’s direction, offering her naked body for her sorrows to be hanged. Elicia followed by instinct the directions and grabbed the branch with her two hands, pressing her forehead to the branch, like if her suffering was going to be followed by relief, and so it did, when a weak light appeared and with seconds, turned into a bright white light, one of the brightest.

-It is beautiful, isn’t it?
Elicia noticed that she wasn’t alone anymore; standing by her left side a tall man which hair reached his shoulders and eyes were opaque grey stared at the tree with the same affection Elicia felt, smiling with fondly.
-It is- Elicia smiled, amused by the handsome man standing by her side. She had never seen such a beautiful man, in fact, she had never seen a man who could be called beautiful.
-This tree has been here for generations, taking the pain of others to turn it into bright lights. It has surely endured a lot of pain- the man said as his hand caressed the tree.
Elicia suddenly felt the man and the tree held a special bond she wasn’t able to understand, and invited by her curiosity, she stayed there instead of returning home.
-How is it been treated? Do the people on the village abuse of this blessing?
-Oh no, they don’t, this tree is only known by a few, that’s why it is so special…
-How did you discovered the tree?
-I don’t know –Elicia mumbled for a moment, trying to vainly remember –I was suddenly walking through a dim path, searching for something I didn’t know what was it with accuracy.
-Such an interesting thing I’d never seen before, the tree called for you… I’m impressed but what could I expect? This tree has always felt compassion for the ones who can’t deal with their sorrow.
-And what about you? –asked Elicia –how did you discover this tree?
-Lets just say that I’ve been here for a while. I’ve decided to stay this last moments with this tree.
-What do you mean? –asked Elicia confused.
-I’m going to stay with this tree until the end of its days, It is a shame, this tree won’t stay too long…

After some minutes of talking, Elicia remembered she had to return home to attend the chores. Apologizing to the man for not being able to stay, since they soon found each other’s presence comfortable and nice, they decided to arrange a new meeting, so they could get to know each other, and of course, to appreciate the beautiful tree they both appreciated and loved.

And so the next day the met again, in the same spot, and so the next day; Time passed and they would meet there, in the same place they’d met, which was turning old.
But after time consumed its cycle, Elicia could tell not only the tree was getting older and weaker, her pleasant friend was also being worn by time.
His eyes changed to a grey more opaque than his first color, his skin turned paler and paler to the point his veins were visible, which also changed their color from green to blue and from blue to purple, turning darkest and darkest the color that painted his blood.
Soon, his eyes would be misty by the deepest grey and the veins around them would protrude with their purple, which also began to change to a slight black.

When a time went by and his figure was supernatural and eccentric, his eyes were plain black, his skin as pale as a dead, but with a slight, cold blue mixing the color of the skin and his veins were as black as his eyes.
But Elicia never felt he really changed. She was aware of her physic changes since the first day, but somehow, the only thing she seemed to notice was his interior which remained the same.
The only thing Elicia noticed was the lack of heart beatings, when she embraced the man whose life essence wasn’t present, for he had turned into her only friend.
She didn’t give importance to the matter, she only cared about his friend, and how the tree was slowly dying, obeying the cycle of nature.

A dame came when they met for the last time, being Elicia unaware about this sad and dismal day.
They met the same place they visited with joy, meeting with happiness and smiles which made both of them happy.

-I have a present for you –the man said, with his now white hair moving with the breeze.
-For me? –Elicia smiled, bursting with joy. –what is it? –she smiled.
-Close your eyes –the man whispered as Elicia obeyed and his hands surrounded her neck to adorn her neck with a tiny necklace.
-It looks beautiful in you- he grinned.
-Thank you so much…
-Elicia can I ask you something? –the man said and Elicia stared at him, willing to do as he said.
-What is it?
-Would you wait for me?
She wasn’t sure what he meant, but with the affection she had grown for the man who turned into his friend, she accepted, willing to do as her friend said.
-Yes.
-I’m glad –the man whispered as he kissed Elicia’s hand and recoiled a few steps, smiling and staring at Elicia.

-I’m glad I made a friend like you, Elicia.

And with the breeze of a cool air which blew cold as the day they met, he vanished, leaving Elicia with a promise to keep.
One day Elicia stood in front of the beautiful and dying tree which life was about to end soon. She felt sad but at the time, she felt a satisfaction she couldn’t describe, like if she had done something she would never regret.
The necklace her friend gave her time ago fell to the ground, sinking in the earth like mud.
She kneeled, and searching for it, worried about losing the material memory of her friend, soon dug a hole, bigger and bigger as her despair grew.
Without noticing it, she reached a point where she was in the hole, still digging and digging, not willing to lose the necklace. And she found it, next to something that expanded second by second, like a pulsation.
Grabbing the present with her hand, she removed the earth from the pulsation, only to find a red beating heart.
The tree quenched its lights and dried its branches and roots as his life ended like nature demanded.

Elicia grabbed the heart and soon found out the weight of the organ. She also felt pain and grief coming out of the heart, like if it had been exposed to traumatic experiences someone could be never be able to forget.
And then she realized… The heart she was holding was the heart of his friend, a man who didn’t own a heart, but in fact he did, and it was buried underground, being the seed to the giant tree which absorbed the pain of the people whose suffering was unbearable, and now it was dead.

-Such a humble friend I have –Elicia said admiring the beating, suffering heart –You decided to disappear the pain of others just to make it yours, because you loved everyone so much, you couldn’t stand seeing them in grief. Goodbye, my only friend.