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Evolution of the Elmaple Forest, page 2

When the spring rains charged into the forest, other trees were swept away, weakened by a winter of want, but the maple and the elm stood tall from their tangled roots to their touching branches. When summer scorched across the land, the elm tree and the maple stayed cool in each other's shade. Their leaves rolled together in the wisps of autumn and their roots wound themselves around each other in the winter.

Spring sent floods and rainstorms, but the maple and the elm stood strong on their joined roots and spread the seeds of elmaples. Through the long hot summer the elm and the maple rubbed each other's branches and wondered if their seedlings would ever become trees. That autumn they let their leaves fall close to keep the seedlings warm. Their branches did a rhythmic chant to keep the winter winds away. Their roots sent tiny strings of strength to feed the seedlings' souls. Spring flooded the seedlings with love instead of rain.

© 2005 Lisa Helene Donovan