The Weeping Willow

Image taken from http://www.answers.com/topic/willow


Story behind this short story: Following on from "creation" myths...... My first year of High School was bascially revision of what we had already learned in 7th Grade, which to me was quite pointless. It did however give us the chance to look at myths and legends again, and we were asked once again to create another original "creation" myth. This time, I decided to write about how the weeping willow tree got its name, and why its leaves appear to droop down in remorse.....

A little boy was walking down the road, when a seed fell from the sky and landed in front of him.

The boy picked up the seed and as he did so, a voice from the sky said, "Plant the seed, young man, and nourish it and take care of it until the day you die".

The boy obeyed and took the seed home and planted it in his back yard. He watered it and gave it plenty of sunshine every day, until it grew into a beautiful tree with golden leaves.

The magnificent golden tree became good friends with the boy, and over the years, their friendship kept growing. They enjoyed each other's company and often ate together and had lively conversations.

As time flew by, the boy grew to be a very old man.

One day, the gold tree waltzed into the old man's bedtroom and gave a cheery "Good morning!"

The man didn't budge.

The tree trid to shake the man awake.

The man still didn't budge.

The tree felt the man's chest. He was cold all over and his heart wasn't beating. Then the tree realized what had happened. His best friend had died overnight.

Feeling very distrought, he began to cry. His tears began to wash away the golden colour of the leaves, and the leaves became a dull green.

Sadly, the tree trudged away and planted its roots back into the ground. Its leaves slowly wilted and began to droop. That is how the willow tree has remained, even to this day.

As for the old man's remains, they turned into seeds and they scattered themselves about the place and planted themselves into the ground. When the seeds started to sprout and began to grow into beautiful trees, their leaves drooped also in sympathy of the tree that had lost his human friend. They became willow trees also.

And that is how the willow tree came to be.

- Raymond Teodo