A Castle Among the Trees
By Stephen D. Gould
Tanner knew from an earlier time that he had been this way before. The sight of the old oak greeted him, like a long lost friend. It's trunk split in two, with one half laying halfway on the ground, it hadn't changed. Like a lone sentinel, it had remained here, faithful to his memory. In the twenty two years since he had been here before, it had remained the same: Broken but still proud. Twenty-two years, and it still in a way seems like only yesterday. Had it really been that long ago? But yes, he was 16 when he walked down this same path, so long ago yet, still fresh were the happy thoughts of those days.
These were the woods that he grew up in. They might be larger now, but he knew them still as he had then: These were his friends, his closest friends. They may have never spoke a word, but they talked to his soul. They were always there for him, they never judged him. This was the place that he felt the safest growing up. As he continued to walk down the old, forgotten trail, Tanner saw squirrels nearby, apparently for the moment unaware of his presence. He stopped to watch them play, as he use to watch the squirrels long ago. As they finally became aware of him, and scampered up a large oak near them, he pondered a thought: How many generations could those squirrels be from the ones that he used to know.
He continued down the path, all the while catching a glimpse of things that rekindled memories long forgotten. Tanner was so glad now that he had returned to this part of his childhood. The hustle and bustle of everyday life did not lend to him the courtesy of reflection on such things. So far removed from this nursery of thoughts and ideas had he been, that he was beginning to be overwhelmed at the rapidity which the dreams of yesteryear returned. In this world, he was anything his imagination could think of. Everything in this forest were his loyal subjects. In this place, he was King. And just as these thoughts began to collect themselves, he saw the one thing that he had returned to see: his castle among the trees…
