A long time ago, there was a large apple tree in a field. A young little boy loves to play around it every day, he will climb it up and eat its apples as much as he can, and when he is tired, he will fell asleep underneath the tree. The boy loves the apple tree so much, and so is the apple tree.
Time goes by, a few years later, the boy has grown into a teenager and he is seldom playing around the apple tree. One day, he came to the apple tree with a sad face. "Come and play around me like you use to", said the apple tree. "I'm not a child, I don't like to play around like a kid anymore", replied the teenager. "I want to play with toys, and I need money to buy it", said the teenager. "Then pluck all my apples and sell it to get money to buy your toys", the apple tree recommended. The teenager happily took all the apples and then he left and never came back. The apple tree was sad.
Many years later, the teenager came back but he is now a young man and the apple tree was so happy to see him. "Come and play around me like you used to", said the apple tree. "I don't have time to play, I need to work to get more money to build a house for my family. Can you help me?", asked the young man. "I'm sorry that I can't provide you a house, but you can cut off these huge branches of mine to make your house", the apple tree recommended. So, the young man happily cut off all of the apple tree's branches, the apple tree was sad as the young man never returned after he left.
Years have gone by, on one hot sunny day, a middle-aged man came to see the tree and the apple tree instantly recognizes him. "Come and play around me like you used to", said the apple tree excitedly. "I am sorry, I can't play around you like when I was a kid, I am all grown up and I wish I can go sailing in the vast seas, but I don't have a boat. Can you help me?", asked the middle-aged man. "Then cut off my trunk and turned it into a boat", said the apple tree. So the middle-aged man cut down the apple tree, he took the trunk away and never came back.
Nevertheless, years and years later, came an old man walking slowly with a cane in his hand towards the used to be an apple tree. What's left is only the stump of the apple tree. "I'm sorry that I can't offer you anything else, you have taken my apples, my branches, and my trunk, there is nothing left of me but this stump and my dying roots", said the apple tree with a sad voice. "I don't want your apples as I don't have any teeth to bite it, I don't want your branches as I am too old to cut it off, and I don't want your trunk as I am sick of sailing, I am just tired and need a place to rest", said the old man. "So, sit and rest on my stump, that is all that I can afford to give you", said the apple tree.
The old man sat on the stump, and both of them cried with joy.
The moral of the story
The story is actually about us and our parents, when we were a kid, we used to play with them, and as we grow older, we spent lesser and lesser time with them. Whenever we are in trouble, we came to them for help and comfort, and they will surely help us out no matter what the consequences are. The tree stump represents their grave, when we get older, we will visit their graves and wished that they are still around where we can play and get comforting love from them. The story might sound a bit cruel, but that is the truth about life these days. So, take a minute and think about our lives and our parents. Show them the love that they deserve while they are still with us.