The Storm

                        The Storm by C. R. Peraino

“Kaboom!”   The loud noise echoed among the neighboring trees.

 “What was that?” Olivia’s voice shook.

A strong wind pushed on Olivia Oak’s branches and her leaves waved wildly.    

“There’s a storm coming,” said Sally Shagbark swaying nearby.  

A shaft of light cut through the gathering darkness overhead.

Olivia’s slim trunk bent backwards, as the wind blew harder.  One of her new branches almost broke.  “Ow!” she said.  “This is scary!”

 Henry Hackberry scowled down at the little tree.

Figure 1 The Hackberry tree has been called admiringly, "one tough tree!" Found on a wide range of soils east of the Rockies from southern Canada to Florida

 “You should be afraid,” he said.  “That streak of light was lightening.  It can cause a fire.  The wind can tear you right out of the soil.”

“Stop frightening her,” scolded Sally Shagbark. “She’s only a year old.”

Figure 2 Shagbark hickory is evenly distributed throughout the Eastern States and, together with pignut hickory, furnishes the bulk of the commercial hickory. The tough resilient properties of the wood make it suitable for products subject to impact and stress. The sweet nuts, once a staple food for American Indians, provide food for wildlife.

“Just telling her the truth,” said Henry smugly. “Now that she’s above the soil all kinds of nasty things could happen to her.  She needs to know the truth…”

Sally shook her leaves in Henry’s direction, “The truth is that storms are part of the Creator’s plan and everything He plans is good.”

Confused by the argument, Olivia looked up at her neighbors,  “How could something so frightening be good?  It almost broke one of my branches.”

“Well, let’s talk about that,” said Sally.  “The thing that pushed against you was the wind.  The wind is moving air.  When the wind pushes your branches, it makes the fluids in them move.  Those movements bring water to your leaves. They also carry food that your leaves make to the rest of your parts.  So you see the wind is a good thing.”

“What about that bright light and that…that loud sound?” Olivia asked.

“Yeah, what about that?”  asked Betty Birch, her white bark graying in the diming light.

Figure 3 Birch trees are midsized deciduous trees that grow from 30 to 65 feet tall. The most interesting characteristic is its bark, which helps identification. The sharp-edged leaves are typically green, and usually turn yellow in fall. Birch trees are considered short-lived with a lifespan of 80 to 140 years

Sally’s long strips of bark curled with excitement.  “The flashes of light are called lightning.  When they happen, they create nitrogen in the air, and the rain brings it down to the soil.  We need that chemical to grow.  So you see, the bright light is a good thing.”

            “Rain? I remember seeing water droplets when I was an acorn on my mother’s branch, but they went right by me and I didn’t think much about them.  Was that rain?”

            “Wait, Olivia,” said Sally.  “You’ll see.  The clouds carry water…oh…here it comes!”           

A water drop hit one of Olivia’s leaves, then another, and another.

Droplets of water began to patter on the ground all around her.

            “Is this something good from the Creator too?” Olivia asked.

            “Oh yes,” answered Sally.  “Without the rain, we would die.  The rainwater soaks into the soil and allows our roots to take the nutrients we need.“

            “Are you going to tell her, or should I?” asked Henry.

            “Tell her what?” asked Sally.

            “About floods from too much rain,” said Henry, turning toward Olivia.  “You can drown, you know.  Yes, too much water and your roots won’t be able to breath.”

            Just then, a flash of light made trunks of all the trees to look as white as Betty Birch’s bark, and the raindrops pounded her leaves. 

“Oh my, the water is getting rather high,” said Henry.

   

            “Hush, Henry.  Don’t let him scare you, little one. You’re so young – you have a long tree life ahead of you.  It’s true that there are dangers above the soil.  Too much water can kill you, and so could fire caused by lightning, but even in death, the Creator has a plan.”

            “How could death be good?”

            “Look around, Olivia,” said Sally.  “Do you see the trunks of trees lying on the ground?”

            “Yes, I see one over there.”

             

            “That was Charley Cherry Tree.  He was a good neighbor, but he grew old and, one day, during a storm like this one, the wind blew him down.”

            Olivia looked over at the rotting trunk and said,  “He doesn’t look like a good thing to me.  He doesn’t even look like a tree anymore.  He’s all crumbly at one end.”

            “That’s the point,” Sally said.  “The Creator is helping Charley return to the soil.  He’s giving back to the soil the chemicals he collected during his life and that helps us live.”

            “Yeah,” said Olivia.  “I remember a leaf named Lawrence who said he was going back to the soil to give nutrients back to feed his mother tree.  He seemed happy about it.  He said it was part of the plan too.”

            A distant rumble of thunder and an opening in the clouds showed the storm was ending.  A beam of sunlight splashed on the forest.  Olivia looked around and raised her leaves toward the sky.  “Isn’t the Creator’s plan wonderful,” she shouted.  “Even things that appear to be bad, He uses for good.”

            “Yes,” said Sally Shagbark.  “And makes beauty where there was darkness.”