That Last Oak

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The premise of my story

Greed has taken more from people than it has given to them.

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Velmor was a small town which only had one well that was located right next to a giant oak tree that was older than anybody's great grandfather. The roots from this huge tree helped to keep the water under ground from being absorbed into the soil.

One summer a merchant named Roman with a burning lust for quick money was able to talk the council from Velmor into cutting down the old oak tree so that they could sell the wood instead of getting shade from the tree. He gave the council numbers and spoke of profits to try to convince them. If anything would convince a council of elders, it's money to make them richer and Roman knew it all too well. The council agreed to sell the lumber.

On Tuesday they cut down the old oak tree.

By fall the soil around the well started to sink. By winter the walls of the well cracked. By spring the water in the well had turned brown, then it started running slower than before until they realized the water was gone.

Roman had moved on to the next town by that time and he had already prepared for it.

The people of Velmor dug three more wells but sadly they were all dry. They decided to plant a new oak tree. But for how long will they wait till it can function like that great oak they pulled down in an attempt to make money convinced by someone who has no plans of staying to suffer the consequences with them.

Sura who was an elder and was watching a sapling just over knee high, never said anything but carried water from the river two miles east every morning for sixty years until she could no longer carry water. Then her daughter carried water for the next sixty years and then her grandson carried water for sixty years too.

When the grandson, now a grandfather himself, sat under the new oak tree that was big enough to provide true shade and beside a well that brought them cold and clear water he never told anyone what it cost because he didn't have to. The town knew from the history behind that new Oak tree. They didn't need to pass down a moral lesson, they just had to tell the story of almost two centuries and anyone would understand.

Thumbnail edited by more but source from Pixabay

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