The tree

They say the desert was created millions of years ago after a huge asteroid struck the Earth and sprayed debris all over the planet and threw the wind patterns awry. Everything in the area was blown away or killed. But one tree remained intact in the middle of the desert. The tree still stands today in the desert. Or so the story goes. No one has ever seen it. The folklore is that one who can find it can get exactly one wish fulfilled...

The traveler was lost. He had thought he knew the area well, and could cross it before the day ended. It was not his first day in the desert, but today felt different. The sun was about to set, and he was starting to hear strange noises that made his spine tingle. He could never get used to those sounds. He needed to find the tree, and he had less and less time left with each passing day. He had grown up hearing stories about how people had entered the desert and never returned. Setting aside all trepidations, he mustered up all the resolve he had and kept going. He would not return until he had found it.

Nightfall. The traveler had set up his tent as usual and fell asleep in no time. Weird sounds randomly came toward him and faded away, waking him up occasionally. At dawn, his eyes opened without being disturbed by any sounds. This was different, it did not feel like the sun had risen, yet there was light - a faint ambience he could see from inside the tent. He went outside, and his eyes widened in amazement as he saw the light fill up the entire otherwise dark say. No, it was not dawn yet, and this was not sunlight - it had a different hue to it, and it was not as widespread as sunlight. He started walking toward where he thought it came from. After two hours, he still was not any closer to it. It seemed to be coming from a distance but as he walked toward it, it seemed to stay at the same distance. Two more hours, and he was no closer to finding the source.

He fell with exhaustion and dehydration. He had some water with him but he was using it sparingly. Now it was all too much to bear, and he could not find the energy to stand up again. Darkness slowly surrounded him until there was nothing. Pure darkness. Then pure light. He could not tell if he was dreaming or what. There it was! The tree he had been looking for, it appeared out of nowhere, casting a long shadow against that same mysterious light he had been chasing. He rubbed his eyes and tried to approach the tree, but something kept him from going near it. It was as if the tree was at the same time inviting and stopping him.

It was finally within his reach. The tree that would save his ailing father. The tree that would be the culmination of his life's work. The tree of life. He made one last, almost superhuman effort, to touch the tree, making his wish. The contact was the moment when everything disappeared all of a sudden, as if being drawn into a black hole. With a shudder that almost threw him off the ground, he came to, and realized he had been in some sort of a dream. There was no tree, just an infinite expanse of the desert as far as he could see. It was bright now, with sunlight. The tree and the light were nowhere to be seen. All his life, he had sought this tree, and now he thought he had found it, but alas it was all just a dream.

Dejected, he returned to the tent, following his own tracks from the previous night. It took him four hours to reach there. When he arrived, he tried to pack up his tent, but noticed there was something inside it. Entering the tent, he found a small flower that was set on his makeshift bed, as if someone has meticulously arranged it on top of it.

The traveler was dumfounded and stunned. His wish had been fulfilled! The flower was from the tree, he just knew it. His father would live. The traveler thanked the tree with all his heart and packed up to return home. His meaningless life had now become fulfilled.

From a distance, the tree watched the traveler leave. Only the purest of hearts would find it, and after thousands of years of waiting, its job here was done too.


-Binod Pant