Quest

Epilogue

The small grass pouch was no match for the rapid current and sharp stones that tore at it as it rode the water. It snagged on a limb and hung there, buffeted by the current, until it fell apart.

A gray seed, large enough to fill a man’s palm, floated free. For days, weeks, the water carried it deeper into the depths of the jungle, into land which no human foot had trod, until it came to rest on a sandbar.

A parrot, its emerald feathers glistening in the sunlight, took the seed in its beak and carried it away. Choosing a suitable perch, it set about trying to crack the seed, but soon gave up trying to penetrate its hard exterior. In a rustle of wings, it took flight, letting the seed fall to the ground.

It came to rest in a sun-kissed clearing, where it lay undisturbed. It baked beneath the warm sun, and, in time, it settled beneath the soft earth, nestled in its nourishing arms.

The rainy season came and went, and, in the fullness of time, the seed sprouted, and brought forth life into its secluded domain.

A tree grew in the jungle.