Illustration by Neal Stepp

The Chestnut and The Oak Tree

by Fiona van Dokkum

Once upon a time, in the depths of the Sussex countryside, there stood a magnificent oak tree. Tall and majestic, with gnarled bark and enormous branches, stirred neither by the fierce winds of Autumn, nor by the heavy snows of Winter.

Lying alone on the ground, not far from the foot of the oak tree, lay a chestnut. Shiny and brown, and as near round as he could be. Every day, for as long as he could remember, the chestnut had lain on the ground, staring up at the oak tree with admiration.

"One day," thought the chestnut, "perhaps if I try really hard, perhaps one day I can be as big and strong an oak tree as that one. Yes, that's what I want to be, an oak tree."

Now, what the little chestnut had not realised was that he did not have the wherewithal to be an oak tree. In fact, he could never be anything other than what he was destined to be, a chestnut tree. Yet, undaunted, the chestnut wished and dreamed.

All through the sharp frosts of autumn he wished, and safe in his shiny round shell through the snows of winter he dreamed.

With the arrival of spring, the chestnut had put down his first roots, and by summer had his first two leaves. Not the wavy-edged, rich green leaves of the oak, but the smoother, oval, seven-leafed twigs of the chestnut tree.

And still he strived, and wished, and dreamed.

As the years passed, the chestnut grew and grew, until he no longer rested entirely in the shadow of the oak tree, but could in fact look out over the huge oak's uppermost branches. You see, by striving and wishing and dreaming, the little round chestnut had become the biggest chestnut tree ever.

And although his bark would never be as grey and gnarled as the oak's, he, too, had enormous branches that were unmoved by the fierce autumn winds or heavy winter snows.

And the oak tree smiled with pride. And the smaller trees looked up and marveled. Which just goes to show that even though you may not have the wherewithal to be what someone else is, wishing to be more than you are will help you to become more than you could ever have been.

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