"The log of a pine" by Melanie J. Teichroeb

Dear Log:

Wow! I can’t believe I finally got a diary for my birthday! I am so excited to be writing in you for the very first time! Mom looked so ashamed in me when I told her that I<br> wanted one with LOTS of paper so I would never run out. Can’t figure out why. But she went<br> out and got you for me anyway. I can’t wait to write all my adventures in here so<br> I’ll never forget! So far today, nothing much has happened to me, but I’m sure that’ll<br> improve soon. I have got to go to sleep for now. See you tomorrow!

Dear Log:

As I watch the sun set today, it reminds me of my lousy day. (Sounds almost poetic, doesn’t it?) This morning, I was just enjoying the peacefulness of what looked like was going to be a beautiful day, when there was a major cloudburst and it poured! Oh, did it pour. You’d think the great god, Zin, was crying her darn eyes out! (Oh, Zin is the god we worship who lives up in the sky, just to let you know, Log). And I can’t forget that lovesick elven couple who decided they just HAD to recite poems in MY shade! I was okay with it at first, but after about half a sunrise of “Kiss thine feet, thy love so sweet” I had about enough. Dropping a couple of branches on their blonde heads was sufficient to teach them a lesson. What a laugh I had to see them flee so! Well, all this effort of writing is completely wearing me out, but I feel better. See you later.

Dear Log:

Nothing much to say at the moment, besides that I had a wonderful day! The pools of rain from yesterday nourished a bunch of my brothers and sisters, those weak little saplings at my feet. Oh, I know I’m naught but a young tree myself, but I’m older than all of them by at least 30 years. Of course, I am no bullying big brother, not like that fir tree I can see from my perch on top of Mushroom Hill (hey, the elves named it…don’t laugh at me!) But this day wasn’t just good because my family got fed…oh, no. I have a major enemy, a neighboring oak tree, who has been threatening to overrun my part of the hill for months now. Overrun it with a bunch of her pesky children! I really dislike oak…they think they own the forest and everything in it. But anyway, a legion of those bloodthirsty dwarves showed up in the forest. Apparently they need to build more wooden weapons, because they hacked down the oak! It shook me up a bit, but in the end I was glad because I am a proud pine, while she is just a lowly oak. But enough of this writing. I am growing weary yet again. See you tomorrow, perhaps.

Dear Log:

I am entirely freaked out. Lately, I have been noticing some odd-looking buds growing all over my branches. A fungus, perhaps, or some weird-looking flowers? Anyway, these buds have been growing on me for a long, long time, but I’ve been too busy to notice. They are really funny things. They are brown, spiky, and hard. I do not know what to make of them. A small relief is that many of them have fallen off to rest on the ground below. Maybe later I will ask mom what they are. Forgive me for making this such a short entry, but recently there have been rumors of dragons from the east planning to torch down the nearby elven village of Merywood, which would mean certain doom for us. I’ve not had proper sleep in days, as I have been sick with worry. Well, maybe I can rest tonight and forget all of this in my dreams. Goodbye for now.

Dear Log:

It’s awful! Thoroughly devastating! You know how I described the warring eastern dragons? Well, they have gone through with their deed. Merywood is finished. Burned to the ground. And the forest around with it. Fire has completely engulfed the forest and everything living in it, and flames are beginning to lick at my hill. I do not want to die this way! But, I leave this as a final entry as the smoke obscures the sun and the fairies fly for their lives…goodbye, Log. Thanks for being such a good listener. Maybe in the future, when they sort through the ashes, they will find you and remember me. Goodbye…

Too bad the pine didn’t know how fast paper burns, eh?