Once upon a time, there was little pine tree named Sappy. Growing up in a hot house factory somewhere unknown, too young to remember, he just remembers some of the details. Bright lights shining on him, growing up in a little plastic pot with some stale dirt mixed with debris as fertilizer covering his tiny roots.
Men would walk by, not seeming to notice little Sappy. They didn't water him, no, piping above him provided him with his scheduled watering, these men gave him no personal attention at all. There were too many little trees growing in this huge room, all like him, but different in that little Sappy had a mind of his own. He knew he would grow tall and be a special tree. He felt that he was a brave little tree as he pushed himself all the time in growing towards the light that shone on him. He was in competition with his brothers next to him, all in a race to grow towards the light as fast as they could.
Week after week, little Sappy seemed to be getting stronger, growing tall and his roots were getting stronger making their stake in the loose dirt. "What a workout" little Sappy thought to himself. Then came the day when the men came in and things seemed different than usual. The men were paying more attention to Sappy and his brothers. They were picking them up and moving them. "This is nice to be held" little Sappy thought, "but where are they taking me?" Into a truck little Sappy went that was attached to the factory.
A few hours later, and a few slides back and forth making Sappy a little dizzy, Sappy who experienced his first ride, arrived at a store. Carried off the truck, little Sappy packed in a box, was able to get a glimpse of real sunlight for the first time ever through a little hole in the box. "Wow, that is amazing to see the sun, what a nice energetic light that is" Sappy thought as he treasured each second of it, "I must be someone special to get this grand treatment, being carried and seeing real light."
His luxurious treatment quickly faded away as he was carried into the cold damp refrigerated store, and after some processing, he was placed on a shelf inside the store. Standing among all sorts of plants and trees unfamiliar to him, Sappy was a little frightened, little lonely, and very curious. He missed his brothers that he grew up with, but now he was among all these new characters. It intrigued Sappy to look at all his new friends, seeing how they were different than himself. Life in the store wasn't easy though. It was cold and damp most days, except when the store closed at night, it would warm up a little. He wasn't given as much water as he desired. Seemingly always thirsty, he had to make do with what water was given him, but it was never enough. Strong from his life in the factory growing, he was starting to weaken. But, Sappy still felt that he was a special tree with a purpose, so he didn't give up the fight and tried his hard to continue to thrive.
Sappy didn't know he was sitting in a store during the Christmas season, he had no idea of holidays or seasons. It wasn't something he was informed about. Soon Christmas came and went, one by one other trees and plants seemed to disappear from around Sappy, but he was still there. After a few weeks, there were just a few trees and plants left including Sappy. They were all starting to decay and no matter how hard Sappy was determined to stay strong, with the lack of water provided him, he was fading as well. Soon the store put all the leftovers, the unwanted unbought plants and trees on a table by the exit door with a big sign in front of them "FREE". This was downright torture Sappy thought, each time a person walked by and looked down on him, the door would open and the cold air would burn Sappy's browning branches. It was too cold for Sappy, he was getting tired. Still he fought, trying to not think about the cold and to stand as firm as he could so maybe one of these people walking by would rescue him.
Soon, a little girl, Molly in the store with her mother walked by the little table of Free plants and trees. "Can I have one Mommy?" Molly asked her mother. "Well, ok dear." Molly looked momentarily at the little trees and quickly reached for Sappy. "I'll take this one to be my new friend," Molly exclaimed.
Sappy was ecstatic in that he was finally chosen. He knew he looked pretty pathetic in his current physical state, almost near death, yet he was finally being rescued, given a second chance. He felt so happy to be held by Molly on the ride home. Sappy loved how Molly would breath on him. The carbon dioxide escaping from her tiny mouth was food he desperately needed. Once home, Molly and her mother took a nice ceramic pot out of a cupboard and together they replanted Sappy from his thin plastic pot. "He looks so nice in his new pot Mommy" Molly told her mother, "I will put him right next to my bed."
And it was next to her bed that Sappy remained for the next 3 years. Molly would always remember to water Sappy and at night, when everyone was fast asleep, Molly would spend countless hours telling Sappy all her secrets and fears and Sappy never talked to Molly, but he was a great listening friend for little Molly. Happy and content in his new life, Sappy grew stronger than ever, getting bigger each year. Molly replanted him after the 2nd year in a new grander planter, but still he remained right next to Molly's bed. He felt he had the best life ever and loved Molly dearly.
What Sappy didn't know was that Molly was very sick with a childhood form of cancer and she was dying as fast as he was growing. Its what brought them together in the first place. Little Molly ill with cancer connected to a sick little tree in the store and she nursed him back to health all the while little Sappy, a passive friend was helping Molly not in getting better from her cancer, but served as her friend and someone she could talk to about things that troubled her. It was in that 3rd year that Molly passed away pretty quickly after her cancer completely took over her little body. At the funeral, Molly's mother, knowing how much Sappy had meant to Molly, brought the little tree to the funeral home and Sappy was placed on a table next to the little coffin. Later, after the burial, a hole was dug on the grave site and Sappy was planted there.
Sappy realized what had happened by this point. He missed Molly, but he felt proud that he could grow ever tall where Molly layed. He felt Molly's love for him and he was completely content. To this day, Sappy still grows on little Molly's grave and people that walk near him seem to feel the love and peace that he emits as he shares with all the love that Molly had for him. Sappy is a positive influence in the world.
