The Magic Tree

Daddy, tell me a story!

The Little Lady asked sleepily as I tucked her up at bedtime.

Of course lass! Have I ever told you about the magic tree and the monkeys that lived on it?

I settled myself in for the telling.

No Daddy, that sounds like a fun story!

She murmured.

Oh it is. It goes a little something like this.

---

Once upon a time, there was a magic tree, the sap of which was really really valuable.

The tree was gigantic and hordes of monkeys roamed the branches milking it where they could to get the sap which they could sell at the market.

The very top branches of the tree had the richest and most plentiful sap and was the home of the top monkeys. They liked being at the top of the tree very much and got lots of sap to sell.

One day a man came along. He stood at the bottom of the tree and told the monkeys he had bought the tree from the hopeless old farmer that used to own it.

He told the monkeys that he had plans to help the tree grow bigger which would allow more and more monkeys on to the tree to milk the sap. He even claimed the sap would become more valuable.

The top monkeys did not like this. They were scared that the new owner would upset the order of things. They talked to themselves and other important monkeys and came up with a plan.

The next day the owner came to the tree to speak to the monkeys but there was a fence all around the tree and he could not get near it.

Some of the monkeys at the top of the tree shouted at the new owner and threw their faeces at him.

The new owner went away and came back with a big giant gun he had borrowed from a neighbor. He then shot all of the top monkeys.

---

But Daddy, what about the tree? And all the other monkeys... What happened to them?

Asked the Little Lady.

The other monkeys? The tree? Oh...

I looked past her into an apocalyptic future she must never see and whispered softly to her as her eyes finally closed.

That's another story...

_{Disclaimer: Any resemblance to actual Blockchains, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.}