There’s a large, lone tree in the magic Forest of Lessons. It’s the turn of the season and leaves still have yet to form on its towering limbs. The trunk looks as though it’s not strong enough to feed and hold up the branches and the grass surrounding it was dying. However, it had a personality that totally contradicts its appearance. It was arrogant, pompous, and quite full of itself to say the least. It had seen better days of positioning and status, but now its fighting to simply stay relevant. One day, a young deer and a doe strolled along and rested under this tree. They would frolic about, eat, and mate in the surrounding area of this tree. They were young and full of promise with boundless energy to bring all their wants and needs to fruition. The arrogant tree would watch them as they grew into a loving pair and admired their camaraderie. There was one problem though! After long days of playing and eating and running around, they would eventually have to relieve themselves and it was often around the base of the tree’s trunk. Enough is enough… How dare you, said the tree! Don’t you know you’re on rich soil!!!??? This is no place to do your business. The deer replied with laughter saying “what’s so rich about this yellowish grass and dry dirt you call soil?” The tree said, you’d show more respect for me if you had seen me in my heyday! Well old timer the deer said, perhaps your time has passed and you can now only hold on to the memories of yesterday’s lore!

Aaaaannndddd, that’s all I got for that story but here’s a shorter story about how that story came about. I’m taking this master class on the art of storytelling by Neil Gaiman and he said that a story is born simply by taking two entities and put them in conflict with each other! It can be make believe/fairytale, magical, real, or anything your imagination dreams of. Well, one day while driving my work truck on a early spring day I notice a tree that had yet to form any leaves yet. And one section of the limbs looked like the antlers of a huge deer! Hmmm, now how can I bring this vision into conflict to form a story? Welp, the above story was SUPPOSED to be a clash between a dying money tree and a deer that was mating with a doe. While in mating season, they would often shit by the tree, therefore providing much needed fertilization for the arrogant money tree; and thus… they all were “Making a Buck!” And the moral of the story was: Sometimes the very people who shit on you, subsequently help you make a better version of yourself!

E.N.T.