Enshrining Complement

The humidity suffocated. Unlike the balmy days of summer she spent with her siblings playing outside until sunset, this was miserable. Sweat glued her shirt and skirt to her skin. She periodically squeezed out the sweat, but to no use. It would be saturated a second later. She watched as drop after drop, dropped, a reminder of the precious liquids leaving her body. She had been walking and walking and walking. She needed something to eat and she needed water. She had walked so far. If she could lift her legs she would have attempted to run in any direction, but they were close to being numb and lame so it was out of the question. She mentally pleaded to the weather and earth for rain, a river or even a puddle at this point. Cloud cover would be the least that could be done. She'd seen 'Naked and Afraid', that was enough of the experience for her. She wasn't yet desperate, but getting there. She realized all the things she should have done differently. All the items she should have brought. Her foot hit a root and she tumbled to the ground. The root trip was the last straw to her upright mobility. She stayed down in defeat, on the ground. She took her worn sneakers off and rubbed the soles of her feet. She could feel her fingers rubbing on the soles of her feet.  Reassurance that they were simply tired and not at risk of needing to be amputated. Before closing her eyes and accepting a slow death, she notices something she recognizes. A small cluster of maroon gourd shaped jewels showing among the greenery. She rushed to them. Plucking clusters of them from the tree as delicately as her need allowed. She didn't bother peeling the figs. She ate the whole thing. Then another and another until she felt her stomach reflex reminding her it could spill all it's contents if she continued. She shoved what she could in to her pockets and her small bag. Ignoring the sticky mess as a few delicate fruits burst under the pressure of her frantic touch. The strap of her bag had left a rubbed rash on her neck as she was wearing it securely across her body. A canvas, water resistant crossbody bag that tourist wear. She wasn't a tourist to the overall place, it was home, but she was a tourist to this particular forest. Surveying the land drew her here. This was just going to be a surveying trip. Over eager and confident she had gone alone early. She should have insisted her and her colleague drive here together. She was supposed to meet a fellow colleague here an hour later, but she must have gotten the location wrong or possibly her colleague did, she had yet to find her. She fell back to the ground, her sugar rush wearing off. She felt strengthed from the fruits none the less. The sugar left her thirstier, but somehow with less immediate need for it.

The tree seemed to wave in a breeze except there was no wind. The air just stood still, keeping all the hot humid air uncirculated. Keeping it extra suffocating. She was sure the tree swayed ever so slightly.

"Five miles to the road. Maybe shorter if she cuts through. Another person is one mile away. River is north of her. Drink from the river. Poor thing. Not an outfit of a researcher. All that salt dripping off her can't be good for us. Leave her alone. Beautiful for a land surveyor, No?"

Whispers in the wind. An unspoken intuition entered her thoughts. She scratched behind her ear. She hadn't thought about possible fermentation of the fig fruits she had consumed. She figured she must be drunk off them. They were the sweetest natural figs she'd ever eaten. Juicy, grainy and jammy. There must have been alcohol in a few. That could explain her silliness. It seemed fast, but the tree seemed to be taking on a noticeable personality. How a tree could have personality she could have never known until seeing this forest. All the Ficus tree's seemed to have one.

"Stay calm, we can help you find your way back. Take a deep breath, rest and get up when you are ready, we will help direct you. Don't fall asleep yet. Alessandra, it is okay. If you ever can't hear us, eat another fig."

The Ficus stood strong. Long ropes of trunk intertwined. The trunk of long wooden ropes eventually turned to roots radiating out like veins. Literal life lines of support. Purple and green fruits dotted the branches in clusters. How proudly happy she had felt at recognizing the fruit. Gracious even, at knowing common fruits in the wild.

"For 80 million years or more the fig and fig wasp have existed together. The wasp the mother of our fruits. She gives her young, her life and proteins of her body to the fruit. The males, content to know nothing else, but the inside of the fig. All housed until the end. These fruits connect the insects, plants, animals and humans in a natural cycle ever since. It was about half this time that the tree's here and it's fruits gained spirit. One summer, a girl having run off from home found herself alone and with grief. She became disoriented in her careless state. Not use to the outdoors without a guide, she knew very little on how to survive. While climbing a tree for safety and a better view to find her way home she stumbled upon a wasps nest. She irritated the nest. The wasps began stinging her. She fell from the tree. Now, badly injured and full of stings she found herself only able to walk a half mile more. At this point she collapses. She is thirsty, hungry, tired and in need of medical attention. Once collapsed, she smells something sweet. She see's fruits. Using one rope like structure of the trunk to pull herself up and reach a fruit, she locates a cluster in reach. She feels how soft it is. She pushes her thumbs into the gooey center, revealing a jam-like interior. She eats the inside. It is delicious. She eats about 4 more before passing out in exhaustion. Her body tired by it's own metabolism. She sleeps long. Next thing she knows she is being awaken by a member of the search party. A search party her family had sent out for her. She is brought to safety and cared for. She survives. Everyone believes it is the figs that gave her the strength to make it until she was found."

"She returned every year to this tree, until the year of her passing. She left the tree gifts and even cared for it. She added nutrients to the soil and checked it for signs of disease. She thought of it as honorary repayment. Some say, she is why wasps entered the Figs and give their lives to the fruits. Acting as a thank you to the figs for saving the girl who was mistakenly attacked by some related cousins. Mistaking her as a threat instead of a lost girl. Others say eating the fruit with the wasp proteins are what saved her. At her death, she was burried by the Ficus. Since that point, it is believed she enchanted the Ficus tree's and this forest. Whenever someone in distress eats the fruits, they hear the help they seek", the fruits explain.

"What happens if the fruits are eaten outside of the forest? I could potentially make billions off of this.", Alessandra theorized.

Alessandra began tying her skirt so she could use it to collect and carry the fruits. She knotted two edges opposite eachother in the front of her skirt. The moisture from sweating made the knot exceptionally hard to undo once each had been pulled tight. The same problem she often encountered with her sheets after being in the dryer.

"Can you help the animals?"

"Yes, anyone or animal who partakes in the fruits. No one has tried to make money off of the fruits."

"No one! That's insane. How far to a road? Is my colleague out here? Will I find water on my way to a road? Do you know where my car is?"

"Yes, but promise you will always protect this tree and it's fruits.You can take fruits, but they will just be fruits to most. I'm not sure you would make billions. It must be partaken in at this place. If you make it out, you should come back with gifts for the tree's."

"Why would I come back to this place, if I make it out? I could not. I would not. Has anyone tried to grow another tree? And cared for that tree? Instead of coming back?"

"No, it is this place. You must bring gifts back if you make it out. You may grow another, but without the original tree there wouldn't be fruits for another. You may not have made it out."

Alessandra thought deeply about what she was being told.

"I have not received help yet, so I owe nothing. Please don't tell me. I will find my own way out."

"But, you have eaten the fruits. Didn't that help you? You were depleted of energy until you ate from the tree."

"I identified the fruits myself. I have still not finished my original business here. Are we sure this girl who enchanted this forest wasn't more of a witch with a B?"

Dropping her skirt knots she allows the many fruits collected to spill onto the ground.

"Sounds like the same thing that tried to get Hansel and Gretle. No nice act goes without a tip I guess. It feels like that is asking a lot of a person. Some might even say unfairly so"

"Strange the gratitude you should be feeling wouldn't compel you to want to. It's not a punishment."

"Maybe I would have, but it feels forced."

"Never heard that before.", The tree seemed to take a frustrated stature.

"Fine. Fine. I will be way more grateful than anyone else. I will bring fame to this place. I will bring acknowledgement to it's history. To the girl and her legend."

"That's not necessary."

"A walk way could be built here. Sitting area there. Sell Fig items there, made from the figs from the tree. Then maybe a wall with the history there. We could charge a small admittance fee to take care of maintenance and turn a small profit. I could see about buying a house near the edge of the forest or having one inside here. Then visiting wouldn't be so difficult."

Alessandra began picking up the fruits again and throwing them into her skirt one by one with each passing idea.

The tree shook, then the one next to it, then the next; The trees were doing the wave. Eventually it came back around fully.

"You do not need to return to this place. In fact, it is the opposite. You will receive help to get out safe, but you must never return."

"I think the fruit is wearing off, I can't really understand what's being explained. It's okay I have it covered."

"Eat more, no charge. Go North a half a mile to the river and then west to the road. Or turn around and walk 3 miles back to your car. Remember, never return to this place. Never speak of it. If you do this, this will be the greatest way to repay it."

"I'm not sure I could do that. That I will do that. Research doesn't always pay what it should. People are always searching for other ways. Don't be selfish, don't you know what this place could mean to others."

"Yes, which is why you must not. You must never come back. Use the fruits you have picked, but never return here."

Alessandra left, walking in the direction of the river. It was exactly a half mile North. The road was found to the west after about a mile. She received a ride back to her car with all the fruits. she explained nothing, other than she loved figs.

Once home, she made fig preserves, spreads, fig breads and bars. She sold the products. Everyone complimented her on the flavor and quality of her products. She took the seeds and planted three new trees. She decided she wouldn't decide anything until the young Fig trees bore the first fruits.

With the passing months the tree's grew taller. She repotted each and eventually planted all three outside her home. Then came the time each produced a quality batch of fruits. She plucked a Fig, first feeling the soft center, checking for ripeness. Once confirmed, she tried it. It was more saccharinely gratifying than she remembered. Even without the special qualities the Figs were enough on their own. She now felt a great gratitude to the tree and the forest.They are the best natural Figs in the area. She now felt an obligation to repay the area for all she had received. She couldn't stop thinking of the lost opportunity and profit that was being ignored there. She decided the trees must not understand the ways of the modern world, she would need to make them understand.

The next day Alessandra prepared for her hike. This time she wore pants and an exercise shirt. She carried a cantine and a small back pack with emergency supplies and food bars. She decided she would bring a small sapling she had started growing. She would plant it there. She brought a small container of compost she would use in it's planting. That was all she could reasonably carry on her trek. Alessandra decided she would return tomorrow.

She was up and ready by sunrise. She drove out to the spot, parked on the side of the road, and began to walk. She walked the exact route she had walked to leave the first time. She even stopped by the river. She made it to the spot where the fig tree was located. She saw the rope like structures of the trunk. However, the vibrancy of the tree was all but gone. The tree appeared dead. A sinking feeling of responsibility filled her.

"This is not my fault.", she said to the tree.

Then she began working. She planted her young tree near the original tree. She used the compost she brought. She saw one fruit on the original tree. When all her work was done, she plucked the single last fruit from the original tree and ate it as she walked to her car. It was a last hoorah before beginning all the other work here.

"Still sweet, no one will know the new tree isn't the original.", she thought outloud. This would give her time to plan the visiting site around the new tree.

"You were never supposed to come back here."

"You should be grateful I did after seeing the state of the fig tree. You don't have to say thank you. I know. You will see. The enchantress will see."

The tree's swayed as if gossiping.

"Why can't you understand!", Alessandra blurted out.

"Why couldn't you? Such a solipsistic narcissist."

A squirrel drops a nut hitting Alessandra in the head.

"Did you tell it to do that? A little redundant in the name calling", Alessandra accused.

The tree's just swayed.

"What if the tree's, fruits and forest go silent and never speak again? No one would believe in this place. It would be another gimmicky place"

"True. What if I burn this forest down? What if I cut it down pave it over and build some pretentious apartments or entertainment park. Let's not get bogged down in what if's. What if I allowed you to help and make it what it should be? If you want a what if."

"What if.... ", the trees seemed to agree.

Like the hot air stuck in the forest, so too was the first meeting and it's future. A lot of hot air.





Sent from my Galaxy