ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀʀꜱ ᴀʟɪɢɴ ❅ 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐈𝐈

ƒσυя

𝚃𝚒𝚝𝚕𝚎: 𝔒𝔩𝔡 𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔩𝔢 𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔢

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There was a girl, rarely approached by others around her. In her own world at her own pace, she need not care about those who whispered and laughed while fingers pointed at her darker shade of color. She stood tall with a smile ever-present on her face, bushy dark hair cascading down her back.

One morning came with the chorus of birds serenading her awake. The morning that changed everything. The morning she found a broken soul, needing help. With needles and thread, she fixed it up until it was good as new. Six times a day, she would mend a little of its parts and soon there was nothing else to mend.

A year later, the soul appeared in front of her with a smile that matches hers. "Don't you recognise me?" it said. "I was the one you mended. What will you give me now?"

"I can give you some of the food I made," said the girl.

The soul happily ate, filling itself to the brim. It felt as if he was under an apple tree that bears fruits for mankind. In the heat of the day, it would be shaded by the leaves of the apple tree. As evening came, the soul left.

Some time later, the soul came back.

"What will you give me?" it asked.

"You can have my flesh," said the girl. "Now you can be like those around you." So the soul was now of flesh and bones. It took them away and made friends with others.

Not long after, the soul came back complaining.

"My friends say I'm shallow and dull," it cried. "What can you give me?"

"You can have all the knowledge of the world from me," she smiled. "With knowledge, you can never be lost."

With that, the soul was smarter than before. Like it was given the branches of the apple tree, it began to build its home where it can rest in its comfort.

Time passed. When the soul came back, it was already a teenager.

"What will you give me now?"

"You can have my heart," said the girl. "It will make you kinder and happier."

The soul did as she was told and took care of the heart, using it well. Like the apple tree giving its trunk for the soul to make a dug-out canoe. Then took it to sea and set off on its travels. Making the tree a stump now.

The soul never seems to come back.

The girl was not bitter while her heart had been given away, her flesh taken and her knowledge shared. She was not hateful for hate will be her own suffering. She chose to be happy for the soul for it could stand on its own two legs, it could live and breathe as others around him. She never minded if he never came back.

However, it did. It wasn't as charming as before.

Nevertheless, the girl smiled at it as she always did, filling up the soul with the warmth it failed to acquire. But it was too late now. Time could not turn back and the girl could give no more. Like the stump of the apple tree, providing one last comfort.

"What more can you give me?" it asked.

"I have nothing more to offer than what I am," she said. "This is the last of it all."

The soul sat down. "All these years you have given me food, knowledge, identity and travel. Now, what can I give you?"

"I was your beginning, and now I am at the last page of this story. I require nothing from you so tell me about your life."

As the soul told his story, she was not bitter nor was she envious. She didn't want to be. She chose to appreciate all the time they spent together, even if it was to his advantage. She appreciated it for it was the love she was taught, the kind of love she grew up with.

To her, love is giving all that she has, just like the old apple tree.

The night came and left, for the next morning to take place. A miracle happened. The girl was whole again with her flesh and heart. She was now more beautiful and wiser than she had ever been. All that she gave was not lost, in fact it filled her with more than she had before.

She had decided that giving was not a loss and loving is a choice, one that she will continue to make.

Like the old apple tree.

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A story of metaphors, inspired by the Giving Tree story where the tree gives people something but we never give anything back. The story of a princess who gives and will continue to give her all to the next broken soul she finds. Will she ever find one who will give his all when it comes to love?

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𝐚/𝐧: this is so short, i'm sorry