((The Perspectives series focuses on you looking through the eyes of another species. I may not write very many of them but they will be fun to write))

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"Roots"

Trees are wonderful organisms. We live next to them in our daily lives, though they probably never know we are here with them. To understand a tree, why not consider their life as your own?

You begin as a seed. Where you come from may never be known, but you somehow make it into the ground. Maybe you found your own way there, or maybe someone cared enough for you to plant into the soil, but you've made it there. You were dormant, waiting for something to ignite your life, and that is this moment.

You take what you need to grow. Your mother, the Earth, gives you water and nutrients, and shelters your fragile body. Your father, the Sun, warms you and sends powerful rays that help you grow. You have a planet and a star that love you deeply, and from that you become stronger.

You dig your roots into the ground, and slowly emerge from the soil to explore the world around you. This will take time, but you continue to nurture from your mother and father, and little by little you sprout. You observe the beautiful world around you, and find other trees who are much larger than you but are there to give you support and friendship.

You try out a year on the world, growing easily in the spring, having a wonderful summer with your father, watching the others around you start to wither in the autumn, and feeling the bitter cold of the winter. The world can be rough to live on, but you persevere, living for another spring, growing stronger and bigger every month. You have big dreams, and not even the elements will stop you from achieving your goals.

Finally, you have become a tree. It was a long time but you reach up to your father and hold tight to your mother. Now you continue to draw from them, but you are starting to understand that you are a giver as well.

You constantly take carbon dioxide from the air and give oxygen to those who live around you. You shelter birds and animals, often giving them a home and protection. You let ants and insects climb you, who ask merely for a bridge to cross or food to eat. You soon are inspired to create fruit, which animals and humans will ask for, and you give it willingly to them. They eat of your inspiration and savor a taste of your life.

And you will continue to live, thrive, and give for many years. You love all those around you, and they grasp in your beauty as well. You soon realize that you by nature are a giver, not a taker.

And it all begins with finding your roots.