green grass

"I envy you", said the ground to the tree.

"Why is that", asked the mighty tree?

"Beneath you, I am dull and plain. Above me, your colors shine so richly against the sky."

"Yet without you I could not exist. Thus my colors are ours alike."

"I suppose this is true", replied the earth, brown in the shadow of the tree.

Both were quiet for awhile, but the tree knew that the ground below was no more content than when the conversation began.

Upon one of the tree's mighty boughs, a robin came to rest.

"May I use this bough to build my nest upon?" The robin asked the tree.

The tree thought awhile before responding, "You may, but only if you send a message to the sky."

The robin agreed, and upon the next rainfall, the rain lashed down for three days.

Rooted against the storm within the trusty ground, the tree began to wonder if the message sent by the robin had angered the sky.

Eventually the rain stopped, but the tree and the ground were exhausted from the storm.

"Your trunk!" Exclaimed the ground, "It is no longer green and wrapped with flowers, but brown and barren. The rain must've been cursed!"

"And look at you, returned the tree. You now shine lush and green, and littered with flowers as far as the eye can see."

Indeed, the tree's request had worked. Sacrificing it's beautiful trunk and limbs that would now be brown, the tree requested a magical rain from the sky to transfer the lost color to the ground below. Only the tips of the tree would hold lovely green leaves and flower in the springtime, but as the ground cheered with glee below, the tree did not regret the decision.

"You are too good to me," said the ground to the tree, "how shall I ever repay you?"

"Repayment isn't necessary", replied the tree, "the greatest enjoyment in life is enjoyment shared with friends.