The enormous old oak tree had thick long branches that looked like endless arms stretching toward the sun. A sign, painted with neat red lettering, declared the oak’s age to be over three and a half centuries old.
Charlie pulled a small pocketknife from a pocket in his jeans and started to carve his initials into the tree. Mrs Keith, the fifth – grade social studies teacher and descendant of the Chippewa tribe, appeared from nowhere, her brow furrowed and obviously displeased.
“Charles Edward Sweet! Just what do you think you’re doing?”
Charlie notice his classmates had now gathered around with a mixture of frowns and smirks on their faces.
“Cool pocketknife,” Tim Fulton exclaimed.
Mrs. Keith gave Tim a disapproving look.
“Cutting the tree can hurt it,” Amy Peters blurted.
“Yes, it can,” the teacher agreed, ‘This tree is a living piece of history and damaging it could destroy it’s existence.
“How?” Charlie asked, reluctantly placing his pocketknife in Mrs. Keith’s outstretched hand.
“Parasites can invade the tree’s delicate system. Its bark is its protection.”
“Just like our skin,” Amy said proudly, “When we get a cut, germs can invade us.”
‘Exactly!” Mrs. Keith agreed.
Charlie made a face. “You make it sound like this old tree is more important than people.”
“Not more important, but; this tree certainly deserves our respect since it has been around longer than any of us”
“I still don’t see what the big deal is,” Charlie muttered a bit embarrassed by all the looks he was receiving.
Mrs. Keith saw what the big deal was and made Charlie sit by himself under the tree until he could see it, too. In the meantime, his classmates enjoyed the activities provided by the park rangers for the field trip to Red Lake Park.
Charlie watched Amy walk away laughing which annoyed him greatly. He imagined how he would get even with the freckled face know it all. He yawned.
The loud trill of a bird drew his attention and he glanced upwards. Instead of a bird, to his surprise, Charlie saw a Native American dressed in animal skins crouching on the tree limb. It must be a park ranger in costume Charlie thought. He turned to see if his teacher had noticed. But, only a dense grove of birch trees met his eyes. He looked back again to find the old oak replaced by a much smaller, younger tree. Charlie ran.
Something was definitely wrong. Charlie’s entire class including Mrs. Keith had disappeared. This wasn’t necessarily a terrible thing in his mind; but, after a few hours of wandering, he began to think differently. Sundown brought with it the cold and his sweater just wasn’t warm enough. A movement to his left made him run in that direction.
“Hey,” he called out, “I think my class is lost. Maybe you could help me…?”
Instead of meeting a ranger as he imagined, Charlie came face to face with Mrs. Keith, or maybe not. She looked like his teacher except this Mrs. Keith had very long hair and she wore animal skins for clothing. Around her waist a hung a beaver skin made into a pouch. She was the same person he had seen the oak tree. Mrs. Keith’s look-alike stared silently at him for a long time. Then, a series of strange sounds spilled from her lips.
She turned away from him and began to walk deeper into the forest. Charlie followed had followed her a few feet when he tripped over a root. As he hit the ground, he could feel a rock scraping his chin. When he tried to stand up, he cringed in pain. He must have twisted his angle, too.
The stranger stopped and gently helped him to stand. Charlie limped along for a short distance until they reached a shelter. The stranger seemed saddened by Charlie’s injuries. Her kindness made him realize just how confused he felt and very lost. His ankle throbbed and his chin stung. Fifth graders aren’t supposed to cry; but, Charlie sure felt like crying.
The stranger took leaves from her pouch, crushed them between her fingers and applied the green paste to Charlie’s chin. Within a few minutes the stinging stopped. She took birch bark and wrapped it around his ankle tying the vines around the bark. She left Charlie to gather a few leaves from another ground plant. Once a small fire was made, she used water from another skin pouch to make a tea in a round piece of bark. Charlie accepted a drink and a handful of berries from her. His stomach had been grumbling for hours.
He began to feel a little better. The woman smiled. She gestured toward their surroundings and began to speak those strange words again. Charlie groaned inside. He had no idea what she was saying, yet one word caught his attention: Chippewa.
“Are you Chippewa?” Charlie asked. “Are you Mrs. Keith’s relative?” He suddenly felt as though she could be the one to help him out of this mess.
She gave Charlie more berries and covered him with some soft fern leaves to keep him warm. As Charlie thanked her, his eyelids began to feel heavy. He drifted off for a few moments. Voices awakened him immediately. Charlie looked up to see his classmates and a very worried teacher staring at him. He was never so happy to see them, even Amy Peters. It was only a dream! He must have fallen asleep.
“Charlie Sweet, where have you been? We’ve been searching everywhere for you,” Mrs. Keith exclaimed. “Are you okay?”
“Sure, I’m okay,” Charlie said. “I’ve been here the whole time asleep. I even dreamed this awesome dream that I met one of your ancestors. You were right, Mrs. Keith. We should take care of trees, plants and all living things because they can take care of us.”
As Charlie tried to get up, he glanced down at his leg. Around his ankle was a piece of birch bark neatly tied with vine.
copyright August 2009 Leann DeHart
A wonderful story Leann! I enjoyed how you wove a story and a life lesson together. Respect for all of God’s creation is something all mankind needs, but especially children because they are the future leaders and teachers. I bet when you tell this to children, they say, ” Will you please read us another story, Mrs. DeHart ?”
Very cool story Leann! I like the way that you made the dream come to life, especially at the end and Charlie learned the lesson of respect for nature and others. Keep them coming:)