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Evolution of a turd A turd became self aware....it was an epic event for all the world. The turd was sitting as sitting was all it could muster - atop the grass and roots of an ancient tree. The tree was a beauty and as mighty and expansive as any the turd could see in its forest view. It was as happy as a turd could be and somehow beyond all consideration of its ephemeral and temporary embodiment. It began to sing and glow with excitement and then out of nowhere and everywhere a fairly booming voice asked "what are you so happy about - you are a drying turd soon to be dissolved into my legs and feet and munched upon by worms!" "The light - I can see the light! And by the way - who are you asking the question?" The great tree rotated its vast shroud of branches dressed in all colors of leaves and bent down slightly for added effect - ancient eyes emerging from its trunk. Bellowing in a somewhat astonished and accusatory voice it said - "what puny light are you able to see! I have had a thousand years of suns baring down upon my head and I am weary of it - you are excited because you know nothing!" The newly awakened turd was in wonder how such a great being could be so lost and no longer see the wonder of the light. With its small voice it asked - "what is it that you think you know that has so dimmed the light for you?" Thundering from above the answer came - "the light is not dim - it crushes down upon me and the wind and the rain fail to find peace - and I have nowhere to go - I am a tree - stuck - implanted - rooted to a ground that has long ago lost its luster - the light has not dimmed - it is unbearable!" "I despise the beetles that bore into me - and the chattering relentless birds - and my creaking old branches that have become tired of the weight they have born for eons" It's rant went on: "Just wait til the clouds gather to pound you into a puddle of slime - sometimes they make rocks of ice and pelt me who has nowhere to hide. Little bastard trees always trying to take my soil, my sun, my position! Parts of me are rotting and parts of me are sprouting - like two legs walking in the opposite direction - and it goes on and on and on - years, centuries - daggers send from heaven try to burn me down and splinter my head - clouds disappear and my thirst becomes extreme - or they fester into a flood that brings the mountain pounding down into my side - I am tired of it!!!!" It began to sprinkle....... The small voice of the turd beginning to soften as it realized its demise was near spoke to the tree - "I would gladly take your place within the great framework of your body for another day within the light - as I am assimilated into your roots - you could leave and I would be happy to take over" The rain began though the brunt of it was spared the turd because of the great canopy of the tree, yet the water would soon make its way since the clouds were thick and dark. The ancient tree spoke again but more softly this time - mindful of a proposal never proposed before - "you would take on this burden? It is a curse of a thousand years! Filled with tic's and beetles and birds and worms - rotted crusty bark and mold and moss and dead things. Your head will burn during the day and the wind will try to break you, fires come and go, floods and light razors - and I have seen choppers come and cut us down and walk away with us in pieces! It is not a quiet quick life - you will not just fade into the soil - you are forced to stick it out beaten from all angles - you cannot run!" The small voice was surrendered now - it's time was near and it was filled with the light of the day even while its form was dissolving - "I would gladly take your burden to see the light of another day" Since its birth it seemed as if every form of bug and insect had had its way within its form but for the turd this is its life - it is what happens - and so the turd never knew them as a burden to bare. It's brief encounter with life is one of giving without effort or reserve. The tree spoke again - "I'll do it" There was no response and the Tree with more strength to his voice planted the words more firmly - "I'll Do It!" The turd was now flattening and dissipating into the very puddle of slim predicted by the Tree - it's voice faint and awareness faltering - in a dreamy state and unsure of what it was doing or saying it simply said - "may I come in now." The awareness of the turd slipped into the soil and found its way into the roots and trunk of the tree - it's light branched out into the mighty arms of the Tree it once knew - Hugh powers surged downward and upward and out for what seemed miles upon the ground - it was magnificent! © David Doyle 2016 Have a short story you recommend?