oom: Jack comes home

[jack_inthegreen]

The forests of Britain are not what they once were. It was said a squirrel could cross from Newcastle to Dover and never touch the ground--but those days are long gone.

Still, what remains of the forests feels much the same to the one who knows them. Their voices are familiar, comforting--many are old friends who remember him from seed and acorn.

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[lvpd_sidle]

It probably is no surprise that Sara would choose to sit on the ground beneath his branches, her back resting against his trunk. Then again, if Jack knew Sara was currently on an alien world in a different dimension, her visit would be surprising.

But that does not matter. The woods are cool and welcoming, and his presence as soothing as it has always been.

"I never knew this place was so lovely."

[jack_inthegreen]

His branches sway and creak.

This is my favorite place.

[lvpd_sidle]

"You have excellent taste."

There are a few leaves on the ground before her. She picks one up, twirling it in her fingertips.

"You haven't been well for a while."

[jack_inthegreen]

I know.

Creak and sway, creak and sway.

That's why I'm here. This is where I belong.

[lvpd_sidle]

"Blodwen really shocked you," she says quietly, looking up into his branches.

[jack_inthegreen]

His trunk creaks in acknowledgement.

[lvpd_sidle]

"I'm really not sure why. Was omnipotence ever meant to be in your domain?"

[jack_inthegreen]

I see things are they truly are.

The truth is ugly sometimes. Painful.

And the truth is . . . all will be destroyed. Someday.

[lvpd_sidle]

"You told me that was part of the cycle."
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.

"Doesn't seem like a good reason to give up on life itself."

She had been against his trunk, but now she is some distance away, playing with a small dark haired boy.

[jack_inthegreen]

What is the point of love, when love ends? What is the purpose of family, when families die out?

My children are dead. Their descendants are dead. My people are dead.

[lvpd_sidle]

"Your guess is as good as mine. For a while I thought love was nothing more than God's idea of a practical joke," she says bluntly. "Tell me--is it? Is that all existence ever is--a joke? An experiment with no possible positive outcome?"

[jack_inthegreen]

I have never known that the outcome is.

It's not part of my realm.

[lvpd_sidle]

"Then you don't know whether or not it is truly futile. I don't think it is, and I am a scientist."

She's walked back at this point, holding the little dark haired boy by the hand. "This is a dream I won't ever admit to having." She smiles at the child, who rests his head trustingly on her shoulder. "Is it a good dream?"

[jack_inthegreen]

There is a shift in his bark, a tenderness to the rough-hewn face.

It is a cherished dream.

But when you wake, will you feel joy or sorrow at it?

[lvpd_sidle]

"I feel both. Joy at the potential, and it is far more real than I ever believed it could be. I'm in love again. Another thing I won't admit." She chuckles, bouncing the boy on her hip, listening to his giggles.

"But I also feel both sad and afraid. I know how dangerous the world can be and I don't know that I could bear to lose a child. Would it be better to never know?"

[jack_inthegreen]

Jack would say No. He would say it is better to risk, to love, to reach for a dream.

This tree can say nothing. He doesn't know anymore.