Everyone loves the Maple. Sweet surname history, elegant, superior, top layer of the forest, performing the hard work of inheritance, don’t you know, the Norway is nothing if not that—genetically Mapled and therefore, top caste of the forest, built to outlast outperform out-smart all those lesser tree-ings who can’t get a jump on the sun; other varieties so late unveiling their five-fingered flags they fight over the light dregs Norway leaves behind; is it the Norway’s fault if lesser trees can’t find space to grow? The early bird gets the worm and Norway unleashes its over-arching leaf umbrella with expertise, first to unfurl in springtime, last to sport wide green leafy hands soaking up the sun when others lose their grip—Norway can’t help but win in the chlorophyll race, rumored to run with Stradivarius, that golden fiddle (untrue; but Norway greeds off such connections)—if other trees feel left behind, discouraged, disgruntled, is it Norway’s job to even things up? Equity my root. Is it a crime that Norway figured out how to best them all, engineered itself to grow faster, broader, drowning out everyone else? Why, the rest of the forest pales in comparison. Is it up to Norway to bolster up its neighbors? If one tree works harder and smarter in the forest, can anyone hear the complaints? Why should Norway bend to demands, cut back on doing what it does best in order to give those space-starved saplings a root up? It’s survival of the fittest after all, and who is the best sun-maestro, who holds the widest canopy etcetera etcetera—something to celebrate, not cut down. Jealousy, the wind every Norway can withstand, thank you very much. Now move over. We have sun to gather, and a world to dominate.

Ann Fisher

lives in the foothills of the Green Mountains, though she is not the first, nor the last, to call this land home. She is the fiction co-editor for Mud Season Review based in Burlington, Vermont. Ann’s poetry and prose have appeared in About Place Journal, Plainsongs, Samjoko Magazine, The South Shore Review, and Zig Zag Lit Mag, among others. Her microfiction “Illusions” was a semi-finalist in the Magician Ekphrastic Writing Challenge at MacQueen’s Quinterly.

Author’s website: www.annfishervt.com