The Tree

By Robert Ryan

There were four young children once, who would always go and play in the fields outside their homes each and every summer day. They’d play tag, catch, hide-and-go-seek, and follow the leader. They’d explore the wet wonders of their babbling brook, and they’d climb small poplar trees every evening before their parents called them back for supper.

Sure, they had many long, fun-filled days together, out there in the fields. But after a while, the children got bored, and began to wonder to themselves that maybe there was something more, something better they could do.

One day, while exploring the woods on the edge of their parents’ property, the four children came into a clearing, and to an old oak tree none of them had ever seen before. The tree was giant, with branches that lifted up into the heavens and roots which seemed to burrow into the underworld below. It was truly a sight to behold, and one that piqued the interest of the four children.

As they approached the tree a voice appeared, seemingly from beneath the bark itself, and it boomed, “Do not be afraid of me, young ones. I am the master of all that is sincere and beautiful, and the most ancient being in this world.”

With the children captivated by what they were hearing, the voice in the tree continued. “I have seen that you are unhappy with things as they are, so I have come here to make you happy. Within these leaves I have enough power to grant but four wishes, one for each of you. Whatever it is which you desire, whatever will make you happy, shall be yours now.”

The children were now ecstatic, their minds lit up with the possibilities before them now. What would they wish for? What would make them the happiest they could be?

Eventually, one of the children, a boy, stepped forward. “I know what I want to wish for.”

The voice in the tree inquired, “Do you?”

“Yes,” the boy responded. “I want money. Lots of it, tons of it. I want enough money to be able to buy whatever I want.”

The tree was silent for a moment, then its leaves shimmered and shone gold, and the voice came, “It is done.”

And suddenly, the boy was alone, far away from the forest grove he had just been in. He was in a mansion, bigger than ten houses the size of the one he had grown up in. There was rich carpet and brilliant architecture, hundreds of doors leading to different rooms, and a big fountain shaped just like him. But best of all, in the center of the room, there was a huge stack of solid gold bars, piled taller than he was. It had come true, he was rich.

With his new wealth he went out and bought everything he wanted. He bought toys, cars, candy, clothes, TVs, pets, games, swimming pools, jets, yachts, and islands. He bought things he didn’t need or didn’t really want, because the money didn’t matter to him. When presented with things like “charity” or “philanthropy”, he would shrug it off and give as much as he could. People in the streets would ask him for his pittance and he would give it to them. He invested everywhere in the stock markets in hopes of making even more money.

But eventually, the boy found he couldn’t buy anything anymore. He was broke, he had spent every coin he owned. He suddenly found himself selling the things he had bought, just to stay alive. The charities he had donated to helped everybody but him, and the people he had been generous to before were not willing to return the favor. When the stock markets went down the boy fell into debt, and people came to take all of his belongings, his toys, his cars, his TVs, his yachts, and eventually, his house.

Finally, the boy was alone and miserable on the street, even worse off than he had been before. Ashamed of himself, the boy sobbed, “I wish none of this had ever happened.”

And then, he was back in the woods with his friends, in front of the great tree.

“Wealth,” the voice in the tree spoke to the broken child, “is often wasted in the hands of those who don’t know how to handle it. Money can buy you many things, but it cannot buy you happiness.”

The boy, dejected, slowly stepped back to his friends. The voice in the tree queried, “Who is next?”

With another short pause from the three remaining children, one of them walked forward. This young girl understood now that wishing for money was a bad thing, but she had something she wanted which she believed was far more important than riches. “I wish I was the most popular person in the world. I wish I had all kinds of friends, who always wanted to be with me.”

The tree was silent for another moment, then its leaves shimmered and shone gold again, and the voice flared, “It is done.”

The girl then found herself surrounded by throngs of people, all reaching their hands out towards her and crying her name. A thousand screaming voices cheered for her as the flash bulbs of dozens of different cameras flickered at her. Friends, colleagues, people she didn’t even know, all knew her and wanted to be with her.

Jubilantly, the girl took advantage of her fame and popularity. She always had a friend to talk to, and there was no shortage of new people to meet. What time she didn’t spend chatting she spent out and about, having fun everywhere she could, always followed shortly behind by the rest of her fans. As she saw it, she would never have to be alone again.

But soon she realized it wasn’t that she wouldn’t need to be alone again, it was that she couldn’t be alone again. Even when she was done with her day, when she was tired and wanted to get away, the people who adored her wouldn’t allow it. At every hour of the day and in every inch of her life, there was always someone who wanted to be with her. She even began to feel afraid for herself, no longer able to enjoy her life anymore as she was too scared of what her crazed followers might try to do to her. Her fans pursued her restlessly, invading every aspect of her life, with no regard for what she wanted or didn’t want. All they cared about was being with her.

In the end, the popular girl had hidden herself away from her fans, feeling ensieged by her own popularity. As she could hear the voices outside looking for her, moving ever closer to her position, she cried, “I wish none of this had ever happened.”

Then, she was back in the woods with his friends, in front of the great tree.

The voice within the tree calmly spoke, “Popularity may seem ideal, but when you live your life solely for it, you give up your own right to be alone.” He then added, “the quality of friends is more important than the quantity.”

The girl quivered her lip and nodded, then went back to her friends. The voice in the tree asked, “Who is next?”

There were only two children left now who had not made their wish, and while both had been thinking very hard about what they wanted, they knew not to wish for either money or popularity.

After a moment, one of the two hopped forward. “I know what I want,” he said.

The voice in the tree responded, “Go ahead.”

“I wish for power.” He began to reason, “The reason money and popularity don’t work on their own is because you can’t control it. With enough power, you can control just how it works for you and for everyone else. A powerful person can make enough money for an entire kingdom, and can stay popular even in seclusion.”

The tree was silent for a moment more, then its leaves shimmered and shone gold again, and the voice blasted, “It is done.”

The boy was in an office now. He was flanked by rows of guards in handsome uniform, guns vigilantly placed at their sides. Behind him was a long, tall window which looked out across all the land. The boy knew now, he was the leader of the country.

He then went on to rule his land superbly. He found that all he had to do was keep in touch with his people, give a few motivational speeches and make promises to them, and they would praise and cheer for him. His approval by his people exceeded that of any leader before him. While there, he was able to enjoy the fruits of both wealth and popularity, as he lived in his executive manor.

However, as time passed, the boy began to fall behind in his management. His encouragement to his people was getting old fast, and the promises he had been making were getting broken one by one. Due to his leadership, the economy drooped down, and the country began to lose money. Slowly, people stopped supporting him as leader. There were whispers of revolution in the land, until finally, his home was stormed by his own people and he was taken away.

While he was being led in chains to his own execution, the boy realized what a fool he had been, and how nothing could have prepared him for the responsibility he had wanted so much. As the blade was being raised above his head, the boy screamed, “I wish none of this had ever happened!”

Then, he was back in the woods with his friends, in front of the great tree.

The voice in the tree spoke, “True power can shape the world, but it can also shape the people who wield it. When the most weight is put on these peoples’ shoulders, it is then that their true colors are forced to show.”

The boy, shivering, went back to his friends.

The voice in the tree then said to the one remaining child, “You have heard the wishes your friends have made, and you have seen how they have played out. Now, it is your turn to make your wish.” The voice in the tree asked, “What shall be your wish?”

The last girl looked over at her friends. The boy who had wished for money ended up poor and miserable. The girl who had wished for popularity ended up being hounded by her own fans. The boy who had wished for power abused it and was overthrown. What could she wish for?

It was a long time that this girl stood thinking, but finally she believed she knew the right thing to wish for. “I know what I want,” she said.

The voice in the tree asked, “What is it?”

The girl stood up straight. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?” the voice in the tree inquired?

“Nothing,” the girl replied.

The voice in the tree fell silent again. Then, it spoke in a calm, friendly tone, “So be it.”

And then the four children left the grove and went back to play like they always had, now truly satisfied with what they had. They had fun and played together for a long time after that, and whenever they happened to revisit that grove in the woods after their experience, they found that the tree was no longer there.

END