The Train

I was asleep in the night and I saw an iron carriage. It thundered past me in the dark and although it passed beneath my branches I could not make it out.

“I am coming,” it said with a whistle in the dark.

I heard it moving in the distance. I heard it moving close at hand. It came from the north and carried its treasure to the south. I gave it my letters to carry.

I watched it take them away. They disappeared in the darkness and I imagined them arriving. The wind caught them as they neared and lifted them. It carried them to my friends and they watched the words waft through the air. My message appeared in the sky for a moment and then was gone. They saw it and heard it and then it was gone.

Dear Maple,

It has been so long.

Love,

Your Birch Tree