One Day (The Gap in the Trees)

There's an old legend about the gap in the trees in the field in Thornton Hough. You know where I mean; the green we all used to go to.

We've all heard the local myths, but this one…

This one is real.

There once was a man in the 1800's who lived in the house nearest to the fullest row of trees. He lived there with his wife and 3 sons and daughter.

He was a blacksmith, and worked across from the green.

He was a happy man, and he let everyone know it. You'd never see him without a smile. He always told his children, "you're never fully dressed if you're frowning", so they too smiled all the time.

One day, he could see them playing in the field with the other children after school. Running, laughing, smiling.

Even though his daughter was 12 and worked a full time job on the farm behind their home, she was never seen with a frown.

His wife, on the other hand, was not so happy. She was as sour as lime. You'd never know she was the man's wife, unless you saw them together.

She complained about almost everything and anything. One day, she complained about her own children being so happy.

The man didn't know why his wife was so grumpy, but he didn't let it bring him down. Until…

One day.

One day, he found her packing her bags. She packed her things and looked him dead in the eyes, and smiled.

"I finally get it." She said, "I finally get the feeling."

And with that, she left. With the butcher. Or was it the baker?

The man's smile turned upside down, and he couldn't help but frown from then on.

He stopped his children running, he stopped them laughing, he stopped them smiling.

Even though his daughter was 12, he arranged a marriage for her. He gave her away, and he gave her no way.

His wife, suddenly, was happy. She had made a life with the candlestick maker.

She ran, she laughed, she smiled.

The man, now old, couldn't take his love being in love and not with him. So he hung himself in the trees she saw one day and liked.

She cried and cried, and cried some more.

The man's sons cut him down, then one day, they cut the tree.

There's a bench, a bench on the green. That's all she could give to wipe her slate clean.

But every year, on that one day, he looks down on her and smiles.

Every year, on that day, he comes back to see them, to see them run, to see them laugh, to see them smile.

When he comes back, he hears her say, "I finally get it. I finally get the feeling."

Once she breathed those words, he knew he'd done all he could to bring joy back to the woman he once had all the joy for.

Whenever they look at the gap, the gap in the trees, they know he's smiling down, down through the breeze.