The Crepe Myrtle Tree

One day during summer vacation a little boy was wandering along the lazy summer creek not far from his home. The water was very clear, but it flowed slowly as there had been little precipitation since the summer had started. Across a meadow a Crepe Myrtle tree caught the boy’s eye. He remembered seeing this tree the previous summer, but it had been bursting with bright red and fuchsia flowers at that time. The little boy walked towards the tree now, but he could see very little color as the flowering tree’s petals were faded and wilting with none of the wonderful, perfumed smells of last year. He remembered how the flowers formed upside down ice-crème cones last year but were now losing their shape. This made the little boy sad, and he decided that he would help the tree.

                The very next day the boy returned with two wooden pails from his garage. The little boy found a spot in the creek where the water dropped down a little embankment. Here the boy dug down into the riverbed so that there would be enough room for the pail to catch the water. It worked perfectly well but it took a while to fill the pail as the water flowed so slowly. The boy began to sing himself a little song to pass the time as the pail filled up.

“Oh Mr. Myrtle Tree I am bringing you some cool, crisp water to drink,

 You should feel better after this tasty drink, I think,

Your roots will gulp the water, your trunk will sigh with relief,

Your branches will grow stronger, it is my belief,

Your flowers will turn brighter,

Your leaves will shine again,

Your canopy will resemble a lion’s mane,

As a specimen you will be a Ten! “

He was quite eloquent for a little boy. The little ditty went on for a few more lines in a similar fashion until the boy realized that the pail was almost filled with water. Now the boy lifted the pail out of the creek and replaced it with the empty pail. The first filled pail was heavier than he expected but he was able to carry the pail to the tree. The boy approached the tree and said,” Hello Mr. Myrtle Tree, I have brought you some water to drink” and poured the water on the roots of the tree that were exposed. A breeze blew through the tree’s branches and the boy thought that he heard the words “Thank you for being so kind” whispered on the breeze.

                The boy returned now to the creek to find that the second pail was almost full, so he switched the pails and marched back to the tree to water it again. He repeated this process five times until he was very tired. Each time the breeze blew he heard the whispered words again.

“Thank you for being so kind “

                That night the boy prayed for rain and slept very soundly. The next morning, he went out again with his pails and repeated his task of watering the tree. The boy repeated his task each day and soon the tree began to bloom with new flowers and to look healthy again. The tree’s perfumed scent returned and soon bees, butterflies and hummingbirds were visiting the tree. The tree was no longer lonely visiting with and hosting his various assemblage of guests.

                Each night in his prayers the boy asked for rain to fall in the meadow and one night he got his wish as it rained through the night. The next day when the boy visited the tree the creek was roiling, rolling and rushing downstream with the rain that had fallen in the mountains the night before and was no longer rambling downstream to the meadow. The boy was able to fill his pails immediately and complete his task quite quickly. The tree looked very healthy and happy now!

                Like the quickly flowing river of life itself, the summer was quickly advancing now, and the new school year was rapidly approaching. The boy came to say goodbye to the tree. “Hello Mr. Myrtle Tree, I have to go back to school tomorrow and I won’t be able to visit you each day as I did during the summer, but you are healthy now and I can still visit you on the weekends. As the boy was about to say goodbye and walk away, the tree began to creek and bend and all the flowering branches came towards the center of the tree bringing the flowering fuchsia cones close together and formed a huge fuchsia heart and the breeze blew again whispering “Thank you very much for all your kindness “. The boy smiled knowing that he had done a good deed and said “Goodbye, You’re Welcome “. The boy knew now what he would write about for his first school composition of the new year, WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION.

 Jim-Aug 24’