Seeding Desires

One morning, a young boy was sitting on a rotten tree stump in his backyard.

And he began to think.

Thinking about learning to tie his shoes the day before and how impressed Jessie will be later.

Boy, did he like Jessie.

But then again, he liked Hannah as well but Jessie could run faster than Hannah.

Good thing he would see them both later at the park.

Again, his thoughts drifted from his shoes and the girls until he was staring at the stump idly.

He looked at the stump until the boy felt as if he were looking through the stump itself and to the ground and he imagined it.

There in the ground he saw a little seed, nestled amongst the dirt, a willingness to survive and grow inherent in it.

And the boy stepped off the stump.

He knew what he wanted.

And then,

He began to dig.

As he scraped his fingernails through the rocky dirt, he knew he could not dig with his hands any longer.

But he wanted the seed. He needed it.

So he entered his shed and returned to the stump with a small shovel.

And he began to dig.

As he dug, he began to imagine all of the things that he could do with the seed. He imagined a huge, oak tree with a tire swing that he could ride with Jessie. He imagined, and it fed his desire. "I must have this seed," he said aloud.

Hours passed and he continued to dig. Although his progress was slow, he knew what he wanted and he knew that he would get it. His fantasies grew wilder and more unbelievable as the oak tree turned into a forest where him and Hannah could run and play hide and seek.

He continued to dig.

Slowly, the day began to darken and the sun was on the horizon.

And he continued to dig.

"Dinner!" his mother yelled and he ran inside reluctantly to eat his meal.

But as the dinner went on around him, he found that all he could think about was the seed that he desired and the fantasies that he so longed to come true. Without his dinner, he ran outside to where his wishes pulled him.

After a few minutes of digging, the irritated and famished boy tossed his shovel away in frustration and sat down on the rotten tree stump now surrounded by a honeycomb of displaced dirt.

As he sat on the tree stump thinking about how angry he was at not having gotten the seed, he realized guiltily that he had not gone to the park today.

He had missed his chance with Jessie.

And even with Hannah even though she wasn't as fast as Jessie.

And he still did not have the seed.

So he walked into his house to find a snack as his mother and father were asleep on the couch.

And he ate his snack and returned to the stump outside, now a grayish statue in the yard to mark the death of his dream.

And he wept.