The Old Tree
By: Katherine Shakman
Once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived a sapling whose mother was the first Greek olive tree, given to Greece by their goddess of Ethane. This young tree's father was the very tree that King Arthur’s Merlin only recently moved out of, so I'm sure you can well see, the sapling of our story, whose name was Isabella, was a very special tree. Isabella was kept in a beautifully carved pot during the first year of her life.
Many years passed. Then one year, 888, to be exact, a princess was born beneath this tree. At first the tree was glad to be the birthplace of a lovely young princess. After the sixth year, everyone became so utterly absorbed in the princess’s upcoming seventh birthday that no one seemed to remember that there had ever been a sacred tree to be worshiped at all. This angered the tree greatly. So greatly was the tree angered that she flew into a rage and, at the end of the princess's celebration, appeared to cast a terrible spell upon the innocent princess. The spell that she cast was a truly horrible one, worse even than those cast upon Princesses Aurora, Snow White and Ella.
She said, "Ah, lovely Princess Lisa," for Lisa was her name, "I have come to cast a spell upon you, so, sadly, I shall not have any joyous experiences at your banquet. I require silence from all! The gift that I so generously bestow upon you is this: you shall be allowed to converse outside my presence only nine times in your life, for on the tenth time all of the witches and monsters shall send a message to me and you shall be taken to live in the dark worlds . . . forever! So I warn you, Lisa, beware, she who rides two brooms in the sky!" With that, the tree vanished, never to be seen 'til the prophecy was either fulfilled, or if possible, broken.
Seven years later. Four chances left.
January Fourteenth, 895
Dear Merlin,
I thoroughly enjoyed having that conversation with you yesterday. You know how infrequently it is that I get to have a conversation with anyone but Jessica, Catharemelle or sometimes Catharemeil, because I have to go to where the tree once lived, and you know what a hassle that is. Oh! I see someone coming! It’s Catharemelle, no, it's a boy, Catharemeil! He's going jousting! I'll write again tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Princess Lisa
January Fifteenth, 895
Dear Merlin,
Catharemeil asked me to go to his jousting lesson with him! When he had finished his lesson he asked his teacher if I could have a turn. What was he thinking? I am a princess! Moreover, his teacher said yes! That was when I realized how much like a peasant I looked! My play dress was a navy blue one and I looked a mess from sitting on the wet grass and I had been sleeping on a riverbank before I wrote yesterday and was a true sight. So his teacher thought that I was just a peasant whom this kind boy had befriended in the woods. I should have said that I would love to but my parents would never allow it, but I was nowhere near the tree's old spot. Then Catharemeil said that I probably should not, for me, and I was rescued. Then his teacher grinned and said that my parents didn't have to know. I grinned too, now, but Catharemeil looked concerned. I had my turn and then Catharemeil rushed me to the place of the old tree and shouted, "Lisa! When will you learn? Pull something like that again and you could have me and my teacher arrested. Is that what you want? Oh, Lisa. You don't know what I mean, do you? I mean, you can't act like you can just not tell your parents something! They aren't just a pair of beggars! They are the children of King Arthur and Queen Gwenivere and the King and Queen of all England! Do you hear me Lisa?"
I told him that I didn't want to be a princess and that I was running away and asked him if he would help me. He said, "Lisa! What is it? First one thing, then another! No! I most certainly won't...Oh! Lisa! Yes, yes. Of course I shall. But first I must talk to Catharemelle and see what advice she has and if she is coming too." So that all happened yesterday. Today is even worse! I had my whole huge birthday feast and the official start of my Queen's training was announced. On my sixteenth birthday I am to dance with the future King of all England! I've decided to leave tomorrow so that I my suffer the least amount of suspicion possible and shall be leaving in the wee hours of the morning. Fare thee and thy home and friends well. Godspeed!
Sincerely,
Lisa of Wales
January Sixteenth, 895
Dear Merlin,
I have limited writing space and less time, so my letters must be shortened. We're doing wonderfully, though.
Sincerely,
Lisa of Wales
January Twelfth, 896
Dear Merlin,
I am writing you from northern Scotland. Their queen took us in and secretly told me that a beautiful young woman (who said that she was, in her true form, a tree) had come to her yesterday just before we arrived, saying that she was sorry for what she had done to me, saying also to let me in and to tell me that I was free from her if she could be free from me! Imagine that! She felt imprisoned, too! So I'm coming home for my fifteenth birthday! I will see you soon. Best wishes!
Your ecstatic young friend,
Lisa, Crown Princess
of all England
Epilogue
The tree has since grown old, changed again into a sapling and moved. It now lives in a camp called LOMC near Oregon, Illinois. She is happy to have children playing all around her and has grown two main trunks. She can be found in a line of about three other trees that leads towards the lower stress challenges and away from the basketball courts and is the one closest to the lower stress challenges.