The Blue Tree had been living on the high cliffs towering the waves ever since it had been a tiny sapling. It had formed there, it had grown strong there, its sparkling crown of blue leaves had been shaped by the strong winds blowing in from the harsh sea.
The tree was happy there, it did not know anything else, and to be fair, it did not need anything else.
Each spring the tree was full of translucent, lush flowers, that, as the seasons progressed, turned into seeds with frail wings that the wind carried away, leaving the tree barren again.
In its first hundreds of years, the Blue Tree just went on with it. It was what it was, and it could not be helped. Then though, as time passed and as the flowers were fewer and the seeds less and less, the Blue Tree felt their parting more and more deeply.
It wished at least some of them, or even at least one of them, would catch roots close to it, so it would not be so alone facing the colder and colder, the harsher and harsher winds.
The coast it was growing on though was far too stony for a small seed to catch, so the Blue Tree just continued living through its challenging and demanding days.
Time lost meaning and purpose as the Blue Tree felt too old to flower and bloom. During storms the lonely tree wished that lighting would strike, or that the high cliffs it was perched on would crumble to the sea.
None of this happened though, but what did happen was that one day, one undesired and unfelt day, an unexpected event took place.
The tree was used to the sea birds flying and puffing around, but they never came close to it on account of its very dense branches, in which they could catch their wings and be stuck. That had happened a few times in the past and it hadn’t been a pleasant experience for either of them.
On that day though, the Blue Tree felt a large shadow above it. When the shadow moved, it could see it was a huge seagull gliding on the wind with barely any need to flap its enormous wings. The Blue Tree decided it did not warrant any attention, so it went back to feeling blue.
The seagull landed close by in the most elegant manner and started to walk in small circles around the tree. When the Gliding Gull got close the tree could see that it seemed to be almost as old as himself. Its wings were huge, yes, but they looked well worn and worked.
The Blue Tree took the intrusion as an unexpected distraction and watched the Gliding Gull watching it. After some time, the large bird flew in the tree and, by weaving a few small branches together, created a makeshift nest and stopped for a rest.
The Blue Tree was beyond puzzled. It had never seen lonely gulls, they always seemed to belong to a colony and most often flew in pairs. It could not ask the gull though so it just enjoyed the company the bird provided.
That night a huge storm hit the cliffs. The Blue Tree was not bothered, it had been through so many and it had always weathered them out. It was careful though with the bird hidden inside and it did all it could to protect it.
When morning came the Gliding Gull emerged from the safety of the Blue Tree making happy noises and then gliding away.
The Blue Tree felt empty and its sadness deepened. It had been so nice to have a purpose, to have something else to care for than itself.
The sadness was not long lived though as, in the next days and weeks, the once lonely cliff top was welcoming a large colony of seagulls. The gulls brought with them grass, seeds and twigs, making for themselves nests in the nooks and crannies of the rocks.
Along with the young gulls little plants started to grow, and the more things they brought in to nest in, the more the vegetation took shape.
The Blue Tree towered over them all and, one day, it was ecstatic to find that a few saplings of his own seeds had caught into the new soil and were showing up. The Blue Tree felt new life flowing through its veins, new energy which led to it proudly raising its branches to the sky.
When the Blue Tree rearranged its crown, it became just that bit taller and it caught a glimpse of a hill far, far away. A hill that glowed and sparkled the most beautiful shade of blue it had ever seen. An entire hill, or maybe even a mountain side, covered in Blue Trees, which it knew, were its seeds grown up.
What the Blue Tree did not know was that, the trees that had grown from its seeds had saved an entire human town found at the bottom of the mountain. The roots of the Blue Trees had stabilized the soil, and when storms and floods came the trees protected the world below. Because of this the humans saw the Blue Trees as sacred and tended to them, cared for them, grateful for their life giving gift, and would often share their seeds with other fellow humans.
The Blue Tree did not know all these, it was just happy to finally know that its seeds had caught roots and were growing well, and in this knowledge the Blue Tree found peace.
The Gliding Gull would often come and spend time with the Blue Tree, two ancient beings leaving their indelible mark in the world.