PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

The last tree had been cut down several years ago. And with it, the last forest was no more. The animals had little more to do than resort to living inside of an enormous cave, the only source of shade that could protect them from the rays of the sun. Every day, one was chosen to venture out into the barren land to search for food and water. Unluckily, the majority of times, they came back with nothing, and the few rations of food and water they did have were running dangerously low. All seemed lost.

One day, the hawk was chosen to leave the cave. “I won’t let you down”, he said. “I promise I will not return to the cave unless I have found something, anything at all.” And with that, he took off into the sunny sky with mighty speed. They all watched him fly away until he disappeared beyond the horizon. Everyone silently hoped he’d come back, and come back soon. The hawk kept his promise. For five days and five nights, he did not return to the cave. The initial hope became worry, worry became fear, fear became pessimism, pessimism became hopelessness.

On the dawn of the sixth day, however, they saw a very small dot on the horizon. As it got closer and closer, they waited with bated breath, praying for good news, quivering with anticipation. After a long and torturous wait, the hawk arrived, but seemingly empty-handed.  “Hawk,” called out the fox, “you promised all of us you wouldn’t return unless you had found something out there, yet here you are, with nothing, nothing at all.” “Oh,” replied the hawk, “but I did find something. In fact, I believe I have found something better than simple morsels of food. I have found our salvation!” It was then that they noticed he had indeed been carrying something in his right set of talons. He opened them to reveal a simple acorn.

“What in the world is this?” Cried the fox angrily, “how is an acorn going to save us all?” “Don’t you see?” said the hawk, “This is more than just an acorn. It’s a seed. If we plant it, in time it’ll grow into a great big oak tree. And from it, we’ll get even more acorns to plant, and eventually, our beloved forest will return.” They stood in astonished silence, blown away by the bird’s words, until someone jubilantly cried out, “Hooray! we are saved!”. “This calls for a celebration!” Someone else said.

And celebrate they did. For two entire weeks, they sang and danced with glee around a fire they built. “Oh, what joy!” they said, “soon we’ll leave this darned cave!”. After the two weeks were done, the fox again went up to the hawk and said, “Hawk, I cannot wait to live in a big, beautiful forest once again. Tell us, what must we do?”

“First, someone must help me find a spot to plant the seed. Afterwards, we need to bring it water every single day. We also have to make sure it gets enough sun, but not too much. If we give it constant care every day, I guarantee, in a few years, all will return to normal.” The animals muttered between themselves. “Years? That is a lot of time” “I didn’t realize this was going to be so tiring!” “But I want my forest now!”

Eventually, the fox replied, “We promise we’ll help you, hawk, but right now we’re all really tired, aren’t we?” Everyone agreed. “We promise we’ll help you tomorrow.”

The next day, the day after, and every day afterwards, they kept saying tomorrow. “Tomorrow for sure hawk, don’t worry.” Sadly, tomorrow never came, and the hawk kept waiting, until the seed was blown away by the wind, never to be found again.