Willow

Willow

"Viva fui in silvis dum mortua dolce cano."

"When I was alive I was in the forest now that I am dead softly I sing."

* * * *

No one thinks about me much. I'm just part of the scenery. Well... Not the 'scenery' as such because the word 'scenery' implies 'a picturesque view or landscape'. I'm just quoting someone who sat on me about 200 years ago. He wrote a book while having his fat back end resting on me (he must have weighed at least a ton, I swear I was literally CREAKING), I think his name was Webby, no it was Webber, no not that either, oh yes! His name was Webster. He was writing a bictionary I think that's what he called it. I'm not sure anymore. Kind of blocked it out. Traumatic time. Very embarrassing too, imagine CREAKING. Urgh! I'm sorry, got a bit sidetracked there... Let's see, where was I again? Oh, yes complaining about never being thought about. Actually, on second thought it's not all that bad, after all no one ever bothers me and I get to listen to other people's stories...

Enough about other people for now. I'll tell you about myself first. My life is quite boring actually. I used to be a respectable Weeping Willow in the forest that surrounds me. I say respectable because I was going on my 100th year when some heartless people decided to hack me down. Then these people started having this really heated argument about what to do with my poor excoriated carcass. Apparently they couldn't decide whether I was better for firewood or for making something I don't quite know what because at that point I was starting suffer some serious lightheadedness caused by severe sap loss. After wards I blacked out. The next thing I knew I was being doused with water, split into pieces, and reassembled to form what I am now. It was not until a long time after wards I actually knew what I was. Then my giver of life coated me with something that was moist, refreshing, stinky, toxic and healthy, later I would refer to that moment as my Completion. I was then carried off back to the forest I had grown up in. They had brought me to the other side of the forest. The wild side, that's what we used to call. There were rumors that there were unearthly beasts that made their homes there, that there were trees who could kill humans with just a blow of a branch (Yeah right!), and many more things each more outrageous than the last. I was about to find out how true these rumors really were. Well, that's how I got to be here. Here. Here, is 'my' little clearing in the middle of 'my' forest. From where I am I can see a castle. A big castle. It's absolutely beautiful. I think it must be some sort of school for Human saplings, or as they say nowadays, beanagers.

Nothing has really changed in the last 1200 years. Many changes have occurred. Changes, yes, but none were really all that big. Many things have occurred. Thousands. They mark the minds of Humans. But to me, Willow, they are mere events of daily life. After all it wasn't for nothing that I was bathed in that liquid on my Completion day. The Elixir of Immortal Life. Of course I found that out only recently. Well recently for me anyway a mere 100 years ago.

* * * *

I had been enjoying the twittering of Birds and the early summer sun. When I heard some Human voices. They were coming towards me. They were there to tell me indirectly something important; I could feel it in my sap. One voice was harsh and impatient, the other soft and quiet. In both of the voices I could feel love. They were arguing.

"See I told you it was here!"

It, excuse ME! I'm NOT some sort of thing! I DO have feelings!

"Yes, it's there but what's so special about it?"

Ditto...

"It was bathed in the Elixir of Immortality when it was made!'

Oh, so THAT'S what that was!

"But how do you know that?"

Yes, how do you?

"Some people do READ!"

"S'alright Minnie I believe you it's just really funny to see you so wound up. You know that I'm sorry about earlier..."

The Human sniffed "Alright Albus, I forgive you."

The two Humans sat down on me. They looked up at the beautiful sunset. The one with the soft voice sighed

"That sunset is as beautiful as you Minnie."

The next thing that knew, the two were in a passionate embrace. If I had not known of the Immortality thingy I would have been afraid of falling apart under their significant use...

* * * *

Now that you know everything about me, I'll tell you about the other people who have sat on me. There were so many. I'll tell you about my personal favorites...

Just after I was installed in my present place, two Humans visited me. Well not ME as such, but more the scenery around me...

These two Humans were also the ones who ironically had killed me but they were also the ones who set up my life vocation...

* * * *

I was sort of miffed. Humans for me were the most horrible creatures on earth. They had taken me away from my friends. My normal, kind friends. My friends who put up with me for being who I was: a kind (crappy natured) Weeping Willow with a perfectly normal name: Willow, no fancy things about me, thank you very much. But did they look at the other fancier trees? No of course not! They went and cut ME down!

In any case I was fuming when the two first Human lovers came to enjoy the view from my lap. One was covered with a golden drape that felt silky on my poor raw 'improvised' bark. The other was sporting a coarse forest-green covering.

I felt in my sap that they loved each other more than life itself. But they were fighting. Fighting about something. I couldn't understand what they were fighting about. Something about whether they should let a certain group of people into their scheel I think they called it, no that's not right, ah, I have it, they called it their school. Now what I couldn't understand was why these two beings that clearly adored each other were fighting about something so stupid as the admission of 'Mudbloods' I think the green-garbed Human called them. At his utterance of that single word the other Human stormed off. Not without a cuff on the cheek for her love. As the poor Human ran away from his love I sighed. He was leaving forever; I could feel it in my sap. My sap has yet to betray me. Oh, how I wished I could call them back and make them make up.

It was from that time on that I decided I would do my best to help the lovers who came to enjoy the view. Of course that meant that I would need to do a bit of magic... The magic that I had been given on the day of my Completion...

* * * *

Now the only problem with my plan was that the magic I had been given wasn't the type that I needed to do what I wanted... I tried, I really did! But I couldn't talk let alone move... It looked like if my plan was going to go down the river with all my other wishes...

But I did find that I really liked snooping I on the conversations of the lovers who came to enjoy the view...

Lovers abounded. They really seemed like the view that my lap provided.

* * * *

Something happened one night that made me give up hope almost entirely of ever helping someone. That night was also the night I felt the happiest in my life.

* * * *

A Human dressed entirely in black came and sat down. Her cloak was as immaterial as shadows and as cold as ice. I would have shivered had I been able to. She was crying, and I could do nothing to help her. I felt horrible. I caught only snippets of what she was saying.

"Harry... How could he??... Two years... Left on Valentine's Day... No warning..."

I understood after a while. Her boyfriend had left her. On Valentine's Day, whatever that was. In any case it sounded as if it was important to this Human. Now that I knew what her dilemma was I felt even worse for her.

The hours she spent crying there were very painful for me. All I could do was listen to her sobbing and hope that something could happen to make her happy again, as she had probably been before her boyfriend had left her.

Then something happened.

I could not believe that my wish had been executed. Finally, after so many years, something I had wanted to happen had. Later on I realized that this was supposed to happen. The two were made for each other.

The woman crying had looked up at noise.

"Harry?"

And after that I closed my ears fearing a noisy, angry outbreak of words. After a while I realized that there was no loud vibrations trough my feet so I opened my ears and the sweetest melody met them.

"Hermione will you marry me?"

Hermione, that was probably the Human who had been crying before.

"Yes!"

How romantic!! Sigh... It reminds me of the day. No I won't go into it.

Then of course the Humans kissed.

* * * *

That night was the night I realized that destinies were written in the stars. And I could do nothing to change them. No matter how much I wanted to. After all, I'm not a divinity; I'm just a humble bench, sitting in a very secluded area of my birth forest.