The tree had lived for millennia and had seen many sunrises and sunsets, and in between those two glorious bursts of colour, the sky was a constant... always looking down on him; bright, bold, and... sky blue.

He had never understood why God had chosen to make him blue. Of all the colours in the world that He could have chosen, why had He chosen to make him the same colour as the sky? The colour of... a dick? It remained a mystery.

He felt ashamed.

Was he being punished for something that his parents had done? They say that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but then he wasn't an apple, and his mother wasn't an apple tree. He sighed. The answer to the singular burning pervasive question that had tormented him for centuries continued to elude him.

And so the blue tree did not live a very happy existence, except for the occasional day when the sky turned grey. On those days, the tree was filled with joy, because, for a very short moment in time, he was no longer the colour of the sky, and therefore was no longer the colour of a dick.

One day, he looked up at the sky and decided to confront him on his petulance. He considered that he might as well be forthright.

Sky!

He called out... seeking Sky's attention.

Why are you such a dick?

Say what?

Retorted Sky.

For as long as I have lived on this earth, you have lived above me....stared down at me... mocked me with your blueness...a shade more perfect than my own... You rain on everyone's parade. So again I ask you, why are you such a dick? You give the rest of us a bad name.

Um...

Replied Sky...

I am not a Dick... you only see me as a Dick. My name is actually Richard.

Sky roared with laughter at his own feeble attempt at a joke.

Tree was not impressed. Sky was an ass. He was mean to everyone and everything. He used the wind to blow migrating birds off course (just for fun), used the rain to flood homes and villages, and storms to wreak paths of devastation, whenever he was in a foul mood... and it was almost impossible to have an adult conversation with him.

Let's be serious just for a minute.

said Tree.

Yes, lets...

replied Sky.

why don't you go and ask the Creator why he made you blue, instead of pissing in my backyard. I am Sky. I am who I am by design, and in that, you have played your part! I began like that and I will end like that.

Tree was slightly perplexed. Perhaps he shouldn't listen to the stories told by others. Perhaps he would be better off focussing on his own values. He still, however, considered that if he had the opportunity, he would choose to be pink instead. Nevertheless, Sky made a good point; perhaps he was looking for answers in the wrong place. Perhaps he needed to go back... to the beginning, his beginning... to understand the end.

And so he stood still and meditated on his past.

Whilst Tree was having an existential crisis, the Carnations gathered to discuss Tree's persistent attempts to act pink around them. They were upset that the pissy blue wannabe pink tree was attempting to encroach on their liberties.

Pink face!

They spat in disgust...

...he's got pink face! He ought to be ashamed of himself... not woke at all!

Tree rolled back the years, ring by concentric ring... until he reached the year 33 AD. And then he stopped! He had been but a young sapling... yet still a good 20 feet tall, when a young man had sought respite from the midday sun, under the cover of his shady branches. At one point, the man had leaned up against his once narrow trunk and wept, his short linen tunic catching his tears as they fell freely from his eyes. He remembered wrapping his young sapling branches around the man to provide him with refuge from the world.

He had spoken that day for the very first time, finding a voice that he never knew he had.

May I ask what is troubling you?

he had whispered softly to the stranger enveloped in his hug.

The man had gazed at him with such love, responding...

I have had a lifetime of service to complete in just a short few years... I wish I could do more... but my Father knows best and my time here is almost over.

Oh, I am sure you will be remembered for a very long time.

Tree had replied.

The man had stood, hugged him, and said,

May the Lord bless you dear tree... you will be unique and one of a kind on this beautiful Earth. Your bark will be as blue as the sky, and your flowers will bring beauty, fragrance, and joy to the world.

Tree stopped momentarily in his tracks, withdrawing from his reminiscent thoughts.

The penny dropped.

His blueness was a gift from God that should be treasured. there was no need to be ashamed of his essence simply because of its perceived association with Sky. His beginning was blessed with the love of Christ, and that beginning would be mirrored to the end. With that, Tree's joy returned, and he started humming a little tune...

And while he hummed, a little girl walking by with her mom, stooped down to pick some flowers. She stood up with a gleeful smile, clenching the roughly pulled bunch in her right hand. Her mom loved pink carnations and they were just the best shade of pink! They would be perfect for Mothers' Day. She would hasten home and shove them in a long tall vase, before offering them up with pride, to watch them wither and die slowly over a period of a week.