The Apple tree wanted to grow as tall as the other trees. But she could only grow a little bit every year. She never managed to grow to full length. Over the years she tried and tried, she felt sad, she felt bitter. She wished deep from within that she could grow as tall as the scots pine, the oak and the ash and dance with her tall crown amongst the stars. She dreamt that the stars would decorate her boughs, and for all the world to see her. After many years she grew sad and sorrowful, when she realised she will never be able to grow as tall as that - it was impossible for her - she was an apple tree after all. Then a gardener came and spoke to her. She told him of her sadness, and the feelings of unworthiness, feelings that tucked at her at night. She was weighed down. Somehow she felt she hadn’t grown to her full potential, she hadn’t achieved what she had expected, her life was full of a grey drizzle. The flowers around her lacked lustre and colour. The gardener had known her and had worked in the orchards most of his life and he felt empathy for her. Then he opened one of her apples into two halves, she shuddered when he told her to look inside. It was the first time she had seen what was inside of her apples. The gardener told her: of all the trees in the world who reach for the stars above with their height, you are the only tree that carries the star within. Only you were to eager to look to the heavens. He left her standing in the orchard. The moon reflected the dew around her, and the wind picked up, making her boughs dance with joy, and the air was again rich with her apple blossom scent and lustrous flowers. Andreas Kornevall
