I sheltered your parents with my leafy curtains on the warm summer night you were conceived. They made love on a bed of blankets and soft moss, safe from the eyes of the world.

I hid you from your sister, providing the perfect place for you to wait in ambush before bursting from my boughs with a mighty roar. I hid you from your mother when she came outside to scold you.

I played with you and Lightning, the referee separating two fighters as you chased each other around my trunk. I cried with you when he died. You buried him at my feet, entrusting him to my care. I stand ever vigilant, guardian of his memory.

I shaded you from the angry rays of the sun.

I supported you as you rested in my offshoots and grieved as only a lovelorn teenager can. I held you upright as your knees went weak when Jessica gave you your first kiss. I listened as you cursed the world when the cancer ripped her from you.

And I weep softly for you now, as your lifeless body hangs from my mighty limb, swaying in the gentle breeze.