The Phoenix Tree

They say that somewhere in the centre of the First Forest's velvety green depths, a phoenix laid an egg.

This is a rarer occurrence for a phoenix than for most ordinary birds.

Birds, like many creatures, are aware of their mortality in their bones, if not in their brains. They strive for immortality of their DNA, rather than of their bodies. A human teenager is a good example. He often seems to disregard the safety of his body almost entirely, while trying to leave as much of his DNA about the place as possible.

A phoenix, as you might know, is different. She's wise. She knows, if she's canny and burns fiercely, she can live for age upon age. Perhaps even forever. So she's not driven, as many creatures are, to leave behind little version of herself, to breathe and burn long after her own flame has gone out.

No one knows why the mother bird laid her egg, nor do They say anything about why she didn't return to it . In time, it was covered by undergrowth, then by soil. All the while, the firechick waited to hatch.

Was he patient? Was he angry? Who knows?

The Trees did as Trees do; they slurped on the goodness in the soil. Thanks to the flame-feathered generator under the ground, there was plenty of it, and the forest grew lush and verdant.

At last, the shell cracked. Who knows if the Trees took pity on the fiery bird? Or if they were just especially hungry? Maybe the shell cracked, or maybe a wise little beak tapped on it, driven at last, to seek freedom?

Imagine it, that hot magical life force spidering out into the ground, feeding the roots. A red-gold elixir to gift the Trees with Wisdom, Death and Immortality all at once.

Today, many tree species still emulate the phoenix, as well as their First Forest ancestors. They bud bright in the spring; Summer gowns them in glorious green, and then, when She leaves, the Phoenix wakes. He sets them alight, all red and gold. They burn bright for a season, and then lie dead and ashen... Until Spring wakes them with new shoots.

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Word count: (excluding note): 366

Submitted on: 5th April at 00:25

*Quick Author's Note*

First, and most importantly: thank you for reading! Especially if you are one of the people who has been staunchly reading these daily scribbles since the start of the year. I see you, and appreciate you 😁

A Year of Stories: I'm writing a story every day this year. This one makes an 96 day streak since the 1st January. Almost 14 weeks in, and a quarter of the way there! I'm collating all the stories here.

The story behind the story: I wrote this in response to my own prompt, "Write a story about a phoenix". You can read this prompt (and my other prompts for April) here.

Leave me a link if you decide to use this prompt! I'd love to read what you come up with!

I have written about trees in Autumn before, here. 👇 I had this in mind as I was writing this.

Thank you

Thank you again! I do my best to reciprocate as man reads as possible - please leave a comment to make it easier!