The Playful Little Sapling

The little Sal tree was planted just the day before by a little boy Salman on the day of his birthday celebrations. The little Sal tree was frightened and swayed to and fro in the breeze afraid to shield its midstem from the blowing wind. Sometimes the wind blew south, sometimes south-east and the little sapling was forced to dance to its tune. The half-folded leaves it carried shivered in the chill bending its face towards the feeble sunlight. It was early morning and the place was the backyard of Salman's parent's house. A few sparrows flew on top of the bamboo fence and sang sweet songs of the glory of big Sal trees in the king's garden and how they stood proud, silent and firm. A little sparrow flew and alighted on the branch of the Sal sapling and affectionately nibbled at the newborn leaves. When the sparrow flew away the Sal danced even more vigorously no more minding the strong winds. As it danced it opened its pores more widely and breathed in heavily.

Soon a pack of wild dogs gathered outside the little garden barking at the line of sparrows sitting on the bamboo fence. In the middle of the pack was a small, white puppy who squeezed its body through the gap in the fences and forced its way into the garden. It soon started sniffing the wet soil at the sapling's root. Then it lifted one of its hind legs and peed directly on the lower stem of the sapling. After the puppy finished it yelped delightfully and ran around the garden in circles while the bigger dogs outside barked loudly in unison. The puppy soon got distracted by a pair of yellow butterflies fluttering in and around the garden and chased them for a bit. 

The racket the dogs were making brought Salman's mother into the backyard. She shooed the puppy to the gate and threw them open though the little white pup wagged its tail vigorously and tried to jump up into Salman's mother's chest. She laughed and bent down and stroked the white pup's ears while leading him on outside the garden gates. 

The sapling sensed all of this and it whispered a magic phrase and its whole body started to glow in the light of the early sun in the sky. Mother noticed the little sapling and in her turn whispered the names of her Gods and blessed the young sap. The little sapling began to feel less shy and right at home and it blew a full gust of life-giving breeze towards the house and all around. This is how little saplings protect us and when they grow up give us shade, fruits, flowers, scent and oxygen. Let's all plant little saps and bring joy into our lives.