Hoop, and the day the trees moved

Hoop, and the day the trees swayed

Once upon a time, not too far away, in the midst of the forest, there stood a tree. A tall, straight tree that had stood amongst all the other trees in the forest for as far back as memories could stretch. It stood with its roots planted firmly in the ground and its canopy pushing up towards the sky. Surrounded by all its cousins, uncles and aunts, this tree spent its days quietly contemplating the world. While clouds passed across the blue dome of the sky or refreshing rain fell on its up turned face or when strong winds would shake and sway its branches, this tree stood steadfast in its appointed spot in the forest.

One bright and sunny day, just when the golden orb was nearly straight above the forest, three upright creatures came and sat at this tree’s feet to have their lunch. Now normally, Hoop, which was this particular tree’s name, paid no attention to the scurrying creatures of the forest, particularly the few upright creatures who ever wandered past. He had heard stories through the conversation of trees that some upright creatures were responsible for starting fires.

When news of a wildfire was ever reported, the thought of its flaming breath would strike terror into every tree’s sap. Not only that, he had heard that his little cousin, twice removed, from across the hill had been felled recently by an upright creature with a biting branch. So when these three creatures started talking Hoop warily listened to what they were saying. When one of them mentioned him in particular he started listening more intently.

“Now take for example this tree here”, said one of the creatures. “Just because it has stood in the forest for hundreds of years doesn’t mean to say that it must. All creatures no matter how solid they seem have freedom of will and this tree could move if so inclined”. “I think that you are taking the concept of free will too far”, interjected another. “Yes, I agree in the principle of free will, but a tree will always stand where it grows and cannot move”, the third creature continued. “You are wrong”, said the first, “just because it hasn’t, it does not logically follow that it cannot move if it really wanted to. After all anything is possible”. “Listen you two”, interjected the third, “You are losing track of the point discussing this silly old tree. It is simply against the laws of nature for it to move”. And so the debate raged on, Hoop didn’t like the sound of being called silly, even if he didn’t understand what it meant. From that point on he only half listened to their conversation for they continued to argue over the laws of nature. They debated something called the restriction of opportunity based on birth, the concept of free will and of being responsible for one’s own destiny. One of them constantly took the opposite viewpoint and so the debate continued. When the golden orb had moved further around the sky, the strange creatures moved off down the hill. Hoop strained to listen till their voices faded into the sounds of the forest.

Now the ideas of these upright creatures began to slowly hum through Hoop’s sap. As he stood there contemplating their theories his leaves were gently played with by the breeze. He thought about why he had stood where he stood and when he tried to discuss the concept with his cousin, who stood next to him and had done so since they had been saplings, she did not want to know about such foolish notions as ‘free will’. She argued, “even if trees could move, which was against these ‘so called laws of nature’, why would we want to?”

That was where the thought was left until shortly after the summer rains had ended. Then the sounds of more upright creatures shattered the peace of the forest. This time Hoop paid closer attention, for he was eager to hear more of their ideas. Instead, he soon heard a nasty, tearing sound and the distant scream of an uncle. The forest soon rustled with the news that tree killers were among them. There were stories told by the elders of tree killers, of how in the past they had arrived with a biting object they had called an axe. Stories told of how a number of tree relatives had been felled at the hands of these killers. This time the rustle in the forest told news of the tearing branch that bit the life giving sap from the trees. For days the sounds of distant screams and crashes of trees filled the forest air. Hoop heard from other increasingly terrified trees of the felling of at least two close uncles and an aunt. Slowly, the frighteningly harsh sounds of murder moved closer, along with whiffs of a smouldering fire drifting through the trees.

One morning a group of upright creatures moved into the little clearing near where Hoop stood. It was then that he first clearly heard the loud rasping sound of a biting branch, what we’d call a chainsaw. Suddenly Hoop heard his cousin scream before she crashed to the ground close to his feet. Saddened as he was his leaves shook in terror as he could feel the tree killer milling around his own trunk. Once more, the splutter and roar of the chainsaw split the forest’s silence. Hoop could feel the biting breath draw closer to his bark. Then as his life flashed before him, his mind settled on the debate of the upright creatures and the concept of ‘free will’. The creature with the biting machine moved closer and its teeth began to rip into Hoop’s bark. Then drawing himself up from his very roots he moved a trunk’s width away from the nasty, chainsawing creature.

Unbalanced by the tree’s sudden change of position, the logger tripped over Hoop’s roots and toppled into the hole where Hoop had been standing. The chainsaw fell from his hands onto the ground and lay there spluttering. Shaking off the dust the upright creature ripped the chainsaw back to life and swung its killing teeth in a wide arc towards Hoop. Once again, the tree moved out of the way of the blade. The force of the swing sent the chainsaw soaring through the trees and crashing to the ground. Then for the first time since dawn the forest was filled with absolute silence.

From the time Hoop first moved until the biting machine fell to the ground, the surrounding trees had stood in shocked silence. When he moved again the silence lasted only a moment before a whisper rustled like wildfire through the forest. Picking himself up from the forest floor the upright creature ran down the hill in panic. He crashed through the trees to where his workmates were busy hacking the limbs from a fallen tree.

In a rushed voice he told his disbelieving colleagues how a tree had moved out of the way of his chainsaw. The other upright creatures laughed at him and said that such things just didn’t happen. Hoop was more annoyed at the killing of his cousin and the attempt on his life than he was of these upright creatures, so he chased his cousin’s killer down the hill. When Hoop burst though the other trees into a ravaged clearing he saw a group of creatures laughing over the body of a fallen aunt. Hoop shook with anger and trampled closer. The sight of a massive tree, swaying violently, coming crashing out of the forest stopped the logger’s laughter. The men turned in panic and ran towards a strange white object, that one of them called a truck. A logger who remained staring was knocked to one side by Hoop and lay screaming in pain. With the logger’s leg now ‘rooted’ one of his work mates turned and ran back to help. He threw his injured mate over his shoulders then legged it to the noisy truck. They all clambered in and hurriedly drove out of the forest trailed by a cloud of dust.

It was only after the dust began to settle among the trees and Hoop had calmed down, that the rustle of what had happened became a roar. There were arguments being tossed about by every tree in the forest. The tales of horror over the killings, the opinions of having said good riddance to bad compost, and for some the praise of what Hoop had done. Plus the worry by the elders of what might happen now that Hoop had broken a long held law of nature. The older trees were against any notion that trees could move, while the younger and more radical trees thought it was a good idea. The arguments swayed through the forest. The majority of the trees were worried that the killers would come back. Some thought they might set fire to them all. Others wanted revenge and wanted the men chopped with their own biting branches, just like they had done to their relatives. The forest trees finally came to the consensus that something must be done but no one could decide what.

It was then one tree said it remembered once having some upright creatures called ‘greenies’ living in its canopy. From them this tree had heard that the makers of all laws for their kind lived on a hill called Parliament. The only way to stop the forest’s destruction was to demand these law makers to halt the killings. So it was decided that a group of trees should march to this hill in protest. The forest elders decided that Hoop naturally would lead the group. The hill was quite some distance from the forest but the edge of it could be spotted by a few of the taller trees. Soon, the confused animals of the woods were watching a whole clump of the forest pass. Trees of all shapes and sizes began moving steadily down the hill to the forest’s edge. Along the way, other trees joined them, while other more conservative trees steadfastly refused to join while muttering amongst their leaves.

At the edge of the forest the group came to halt, for they saw before them a scarred and bloody battlefield. The steep slope was strewn with fallen trees. Cousins, sisters, uncles and aunts lay fallen and piled into heaps, while all about lay their broken limbs, some in smouldering piles. The ground was littered with the stumps of hundreds of their own. An even greater anger swayed through the trees and the news was spread back to the rest of the forest. Some of the trees who were initially against the march moved down to sway at horror of the massacre. The determination to stop this senseless felling of their relatives pushed the group forward. Once past the field of death the growing clump moved down to the lower grassy fields. The upright creatures that first met the group were frightened by the sight of the moving trees. Nothing stopped them as the trees ploughed across fields, broke through fences, forded creeks but sensibly avoided all buildings.

Word of their march spread ahead of them and they were soon joined by delighted greenies and curious onlookers. The trees moved across the country till they came to a hard, flat, path of stone that lead directly to the hill. Cars swerved off the road at their approach and a police road block did nothing to stop their inexorable march. As the grove neared the rocky hill, in what we call a city, the trees were joined by children, parents and animals who walked in the shade of this curious parade. The small forest was soon being watched by television crews and buzzed by a large, noisy bird (a police helicopter to us). Through the suburbs of the city the trees moved, joined along the way by an assortment of ornamental trees and shrubs. Even a vine tried to follow but was soon lagging behind as it could only creep.

Before long the protest group neared the tree-bare heart of the city. Finally, at the end of one long road could be seen the building called Parliament. The huge crowd of humans soon realised the reason for the curious march, and so placards with slogans began to appear in the woods. A chant became discernible, especially to the Cabinet which now stood inside the dead-wood lined building. The chant they clearly heard was “Save the trees”. The trees began to rumble to the rhythm and their branches swayed and leaves rustled to “Fell the tree killers!”. The crowd was met on the steps of the parliament building by a line of uniformed police behind which cowered the frightened Prime Minister and his Cabinet.

Watching eagerly were a crowd of reporters and their TV crews, who spread the news throughout the city. The action of the forest’s protest march was soon after beamed live around the world. Of all the people involved the Minister of Forestry was the most worried. His office had made large sums of money selling permits for the illegal felling of these trees. Both he and the Prime Minister had lined their pockets from the deals. Scared into saving his own bark, the Prime Minister called on the police to fire the water cannons to stop the marcher’s progress.
Instead of deterring the protesters the trees welcomed the refreshing drink. The walk had been long and dry, and their parched roots soaked up all the water while the people simply stood behind the tree trunks. Contrary to the objectives of the Prime Minister the chants against the government simply became refreshed and louder. When the Forestry Minister called on the police to fire tear gas at the crowd, the trees simply soaked up the smoke while at the same time becoming more incensed. Crushing forward they forced the police and the terrified Cabinet into the building. It was now gloomy inside the building, the windows admitting little daylight as the trees pressed closer. The emergency lighting was activated when one of the tree’s roots broke the building’s power cables. The constant tinkle of breaking glass echoed through the dusty halls as branches reached in for the frightened politicians. Then suddenly there was a flash of yellow light and flames licked up into the canopy of one of the trees.

Panic spread quickly, as trees and protesters turned and scattered. One young fir, alight and wild with pain, tripped and crashed into the building which was also soon ablaze. The city screamed to the sounds of the arriving emergency vehicles. The fire crews now turned their hoses onto the burning building. With lights flashing, trees and people screaming, the Prime and Forestry Ministers took the opportunity to make their escape. They both had to escape on foot as in the ensuing scuffle the Prime Minister’s car had been leant against by one of the older trees and was now a crumpled mess. One of Hoop’s younger cousins had seen the Forestry Minister start the fire by putting a match to a wad of incriminating documents and so gave chase. The minister did not see the slow-moving vine which had finally caught up to the protest group. He tripped and fell to the ground. A young oak who also tried to move too fast down the front steps lost his balance and came crashing down on top of the Minister, squashing him as flat as ground cover.

After the smoke cleared a dozen burnt or fallen trees littered the Parliament precinct. The Education Minister found enough of the unburnt documents to bring charges against his other two senior ministers for receiving graft. The Prime Minister was apprehended at the airport trying escape to Timbuktu and a new government leader was elected. The laws were then changed declaring the remaining forest a national park. The Parliament was rebuilt and the shattered concrete piazza in front was turned into a park for the citizens of the city.

After the anger and excitement of the protest most of the trees wandered away. Some travelled back to the forest, others stayed to stand vigil over the new Cabinet. In the centre of the park stood Hoop, whose broad canopy now proudly shelters speakers corner. It is here every Sunday that people come to voice their political and social views. Hoop listens closely to all the different human ideas but has never again acted on them. The trees and people soon forgot about the forest being able to move.

But not all the trees made it back to the forest. If you come across a lone tree in the middle of a field you never know it may just be one of the trees who stopped along the way home, after the day the trees swayed.