TRUNK SHOW

By Ben Greenman

from forthcoming collection, as yet untitled

The whole botanical drama needs only a single day in an American forest. The red spruce has neither the stature not the history of a hero. A plain, unassuming tree, a he-balsam at the southernmost end of a row of red spruces, becomes, through the force of history, the chief spirit of the forest. A line of white pines holds sway over in the corner of the forest, some rising high enough to subject the spruces to near-constant shade. One morning, a fire coughs itself to life; a white pine is killed, and the honor of the pines must be avenged. With no evidence, a languid white spruce is accused of starting the fire. His punishment is settled upon. He will be forever ostracized. There is only one alternative; the red spruce, if he is satisfied of the white spruce’s innocence, must either locate the guilty party or himself agree to be shunned. There is no question as to which tree would be of more value to the community, but the red spruce is adamant. The white spruce is innocent; he must take its place. There is a stern disagreement between him and the other red spruces, who argue with great persuasiveness that this particular white spruce, the shame of the forest, has already lost its value to the other rooted residents of the forest.  But the red spruce persists; a hero in spite of himself, he is ready to forgo all future communication with other trees. One tree will be in charge of keeping the others from interacting with him, the red spruce just to the north of the matryr, and he is convinced by the red spruce to his north to decline this position of enforcement, understanding full well that this will result in his excommunication as well. This, then, results in a strained circuits of motives and persuasion, the original red spruce pleading with the northernmost to allow the middle tree to carry out the orders of the group. At last the obstructionist relents. He agrees that the middle tree must bend to the will of the rest. The original red spruce is renounced. In the silence, the northernmost tree feels the terrible significance of what has taken place, and refuses to speak to any of the other trees. The middle tree has silence on either side, silence forever. The white spruce that did not start the fire does not understand enough to be either grateful or horrified. The pines have watched this all with sadistic amusement.