“Ooh!  Put this in the bag!”

“What is it?”

The man took it from the boy and turned it over in his hands.  The boy simply shrugged.

The man smiled.  “This is a pine cone.  It came from one of these trees.”

“So we can eat it?  Like a fruit?”

“Not really.  It’s more like a seed.”

“A seed?  It’ll grow up to be another tree?”  The boy turned it over in his hands, squinting to inspect it from every conceivable angle.  “Should we leave it?  I want there to be more trees.  Lots more.”  A worried look came over his face, painted red by sun and glossy with sweat from the day’s hike. …Continue reading this entry