The Legacy of the Willow--Neomie

On a farm there lived a happy little family of three. Laughter filled the air as the small child was thrown into the air by his father as his mother watched with a smile on her face. The little family was on their way to go on a picnic beneath their favorite tree, which was planted by the father and mother when they first got married. As the day went by the mother noticed she was having chest pain but didn’t pay much attention to it as she felt fine overall.

But, everything was not fine. The family later found out that the mother actually had breast cancer when they went for an examination one day. Luckily they caught it quickly and the tumor had not turned too large. The family, although they did not have a lot of money, they were able to gather the money so that they were able to pay for the mother’s treatment.

It was all fine and dandy for some time, however after a few years went by, the tumor showed up again. This time, they could not pay for her treatment immediately. Due to this, as time went by the tumor grew little by little. As the father was about to give in and let the mother get her treatment even though they could not pay for it, the mother stopped him. She shook her head at him and they were able to understand each other through their eyes. The father collapsed next to the mother’s bed and broke out in tears. The child came into the room soon after since he heard the ruckus and he didn’t understand what was going on.

The child understood soon enough.

A few months after that incident a funeral was held. The family did not know many people so it was just a small little funeral as they buried the mother under her favorite tree. The father and son duo mourned together as silent tears streamed down their faces.

As the years passed by, the child made it a routine to go to the tree and sit down by his mother’s grave and excitedly talk about his day. One day, the child ran to his mother’s grave, but this time in tears. Apparently his father brought his new girlfriend to his son in order to introduce his son to his potential future stepmom. The child could not take this and ran out of the house as his father was calling him back.

The child cried many tears as he talked about not wanting his father to replace his mother. He was so busy talking that he did not notice that the branches of the tree slowly but surely bent downward. Soon the branches and leaves touched the ground and covered the child and the grave. The child stopped talking as he felt a warm and comforting presence and looked around and saw the tree encasing him, as if he was in a hug. The child couldn’t take it anymore and more tears ran down his face. A leaf fell off the tree and landed on his face, right on top of his tears. After some time, the child was ready to face the reality of the situation and went back to where his father and his new girlfriend were at.

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Years later, a young adult that looked like a grown up version of the young child came up to the grave underneath the tree. He parted the curtain of leaves as he approached his mother’s grave. He sat down where he used to sit down and talked to his mother about what had happened. Although the child did not accept his father’s girlfriend at that time, they played together and hung out so they were able to get along. The child soon found his father’s girlfriend very sweet and kind and he was very excited to have a new mother figure in his life. His father had married his girlfriend a few years later and they were very happy together.

The child, on the other hand, had started to help around the farm and started to work a few little jobs around the village. He was very happy with his life thus far although he still missed his mother greatly. As the child was recapping, his father and stepmother parted the leaves of the tree and approached the grave. They were all chatting happily together and told stories of some events that had transpired.

A small breeze went through the trees and a small whisper can be heard, ​“Be happy, my child.”