There’s a young quaking aspen in the forest bordering my backyard.
All around it are young maples, oaks, dogwoods, and cherry trees.
I’ve watched them grow over the past five years.
But there’s something special about the aspen.
Even in the faintest breeze, so faint I can’t feel it on my skin, its leaves flutter joyfully, while its neighbors remain still.
It waves to me, and that makes me happy.
I smile and wave back.
I decide to remove the other trees around the fluttering tree.
It will have more space, more sun, more air, more water.
Maybe it will grow much faster now.
Maybe it will wave at me even more.
Maybe I will be happier………
………but now that it’s alone, it doesn’t flutter as much.
Even with plenty of wind.
Maybe the tree was not waving to me.
Maybe it was dancing for its friends.
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