HVMXN BYND

I had to return to the tree. I was hungry. Very hungry. I was starving actually, and it was a starve beyond hunger. I had spent the morning staring in the mirror and searching around the seemingly empty house that I now occupied. My search began optimistic. Then reflective. Before long, I abandoned my search altogether. Next, I became frantic. I had realized the unknownness of my current situation. Then the no food realization arrived. I was starving, and it was a starve beyond hunger.

A starve beyond hunger. A feeling so wretched it can only be described as desperation.  I ran to the tree from the day earlier. I came to the place the park had been. No park. No lush trees. No garden. Now, a parking lot. It was as simple as it sounds. A very boring parking lot. Recently laid smooth black asphalt. Orangish yellow lines. Freshly painted. Concrete curbs. There was also a building. A very boring building. Some sort of financial institution I believe.

There was one other thing. A tree near the entrance of the building. On the ground below were three yellow apples. All three brown with rot. They also all looked to have been stomped on.

Desperation. While birthed in the depths of despair, desperation can carry a liberating level of clarity when an answer must be found. Fixating on the relief of my physical hunger, I ran across the parking lot to the barren tree. To clarify, the leaves of the tree were green. Very green actually. They were also plentiful enough for a tree of its kind. Still barren. The building lay nearly against it. It looked detached. Just, barren.

Desperation told me to ask the tree. I asked, “What happened?”

Lifeless. The tree stood before me. “What happened?” I thought. I stepped forward and touched the tree. A voice spoke.

“They destroyed the forests. Called natural, ‘Parks.’ Built a city. Call this the heart. The wind won’t blow, and I can’t breathe. I speak the truth. You see the scene. My life is nothing. It does not matter. You’ve come today. Ask what’s the matter. You seek your health. Return to Nature.  Where health is wealth. You’ll find a savior.”

An apple fell from the tree and hit me on the crown of my head, bouncing slightly and grazing my left shoulder as it fell.