The "Mys-tree"

It was a beautiful August day, the pale blue sky overhead was tinged in the east with orange and yellow, signs of the rising sun. The ground felt cool under my bare feet as I walked back through the woods toward the house, just finished with the feeding. Suddenly laying there in front of me I spotted something green and round. Picking it up, I found it hard and cold, with textured green skin. Although it looked, felt and even smelled very much like an apple, could it really be one? As far as I knew, we shouldn’t have a fruit tree here. Scrutinizing the area, I found two more of the puzzling prizes. If they were truly apples, where was the tree?

Looking up between the abundant oaks and hickories, I at length noticed the tall and slender tree growing into a half archway. Its thick branches were loaded with loads of the tiny green fruit. Almost convinced, I excitedly raced to the house to show Mama my surprising discovery.

She agreed that they were actually apples and was surprised when I told her they came from a tree down in the cow-pen! It wasn’t long before everyone hustled down to see the “mys-tree.” Even the lowest fruit-filled branches were much too high for any of us to reach. With a diameter of a foot and a half, shaking the tree barely budged it, even with several of us jarring the trunk. Samuel tried to climb it, but the long slippery trunk made it difficult. After several varying attempts, a few small, downed apples allowed everyone to enjoy the fresh taste of the fruit. We all shared the excitement of the find and wondered how we had never seen it before.

Isaac and I enjoyed our “mys-tree,” very much. Every morning when we did the feeding, we stopped and retrieved two apples, eating them leisurely as we continued checking the cow fence. Later all of us kids went down to get apples. The older ones climbed the stepladder and used the picker, while the younger ones stood down below and caught what we dropped down. What an enjoyable time! The apples are now turning red on the tree as the weather becomes cooler. Fall time has truly arrived.

None of us knows how our “mys-tree” came to be in what is now part of our cow pen. Perhaps years ago, one of my older siblings threw down an apple core and by one little seed taking root and growing, blessed us with this fruitage. When Isaac and I were finished eating our apples, we threw our cores far into the woods, in all different directions. We are hoping that one little seed takes root and grows, and then, just maybe, years from now, someone might walk through our woods, and once again find their own, “mys-tree.”

~Halayah