Alida's Tree

From the beginning of time came the god of the sun of an ancient civilization, located in present day Netherlands . The name of Zon shook mountains and tore through earth, only for his own satisfaction of destroying. Zon was created out of nothing, but he only ruled everything because he generated a mass amount of fear within people. Zon’s twin brother, Maan, presided over the moon. The brothers watched over humankind on the planet Earth. Zon and Maan were polar opposites, Zon known for being boastful and arrogant, while Maan was more withdrawn.
For thousands of years, Maan thought Zon to be an unfit ruler. It troubled him to think the Earth’s fate resided in such a loathsome leader. Anger steamed and boiled within Maan. One day, he developed a plan to rid the world of Zon forever. Maan knew if he made a direct attack, Zon would defeat him. So he did something unexpected.
     About five thousand years ago from today, an ordinary human was having an extraordinary dream. Alida could have sworn the moon was talking in her dream. She heard him say, “I grant you the powers of a sorceress, to overthrow the tyrant Zon. Do this and be showered with riches beyond imagination. Fail, and receive a fate worse than death.”
    When Alida awoke, she soon found the message in the dream to be true. Alida had the power of a great sorceress and was able to manipulate anything to her will.
    For several weeks she taught herself how to use her new powers. Through her training, she learned from many suitable teachers who specialized in magic. As it seemed she was exceptionally gifted when using magic, it was not long until she became a powerful sorceress and was well known throughout the country. Every night she would receive a dream from Maan urging her to destroy Zon but her response was always, “When I am ready, I will fight him.”
    She was kindhearted and fair to the people of the Netherlands and she only used her magic for the benefit of the people, but after many seasons, her kindness turned into bitterness. Alida began to wonder why she should be so kind and helpful to these people when they had done nothing for her in return. Paired with the insistence from the moon god to kill Zon, she was driven over the edge.
    At first, it was small things. Ignoring distress calls of failing crops or letting the sick die. Villagers pestered and begged for Alida to help, but she was compelled indoors and kept to herself. The dilemma of wanting to lash out at every person she met or to assist the public was a constant storm within her mind. Eventually, one side won, and she began to attack at the most insignificant of things. She caused a few injuries to the villagers when they wouldn’t stop knocking on her wooden door. As time passed, Alida eventually burned houses, destroyed villages, and made it storm for days on end. Maan began to notice and confronted her in a dream.
    “Why are you destroying trees when you could be destroying my brother instead?” He asked. Something in Alida’s brain snapped. “Do not tell me what to do, you lazy oaf! With all my power, I could destroy you instead!”
    Maan roared, “Fool! Did you fail to heed my warning? Fear tomorrow, for it will be the first in eternal suffering.”
    When Alida woke to find she was all in one piece, she brushed off Maan’s threat and continued her day. While terrorizing locals, she began to feel nauseous.
    “That’s odd,” She remarked, “I do not get sick. I am certainly the most powerful being in the world! In fact, most might consider me a god.” She smirked and bellowed for all to hear, “Fear me, humans! For I am the goddess Alida of the Earth.”
    With this remark, thunder came rolling ahead in the sky and a violent flash of bright lightning struck the crown of her head. The voltage ran down to her feet and into the ground.
    “Who could have done such a thing?” She shrieked, her angry outburst echoing throughout the village.
    When there was no reply, Alida picked up her foot to walk and continue to pester the villagers, but her foot did not budge. She glanced down and noticed roots wrapping around her feet. She screeched and tried using bursts of magic to tear through the growing roots, but it persisted in wrapping around her. Bark and wood piled up against her skin and climbed up to her neck. A crowd began to gather around Alida to see what all the commotion was about.
    “Help me foolish mortals!” Alida wailed, “Help me or be tortured and destroyed!”
    The villagers murmured amongst themselves, but no one moved. Her cries of protest were soon muffled when the bark was fastened over her mouth. When Alida was covered completely, she began to grow branches and leaves. A voiced carried by the wind whispered through the villagers’ ears, “And here you will stay in eternal consciousness, incapable of breathing but forever unable to die. Here you will reside until the end of time.”
    The growing of the roots stopped and in place of Alida was a full grown English Oak tree. A still silence fell over the village.
    To this day, Alida’s tree still stands in the heart of the town. Legend states if you press an ear to the trunk of the tree, you can hear her wail, still screaming for somebody to help her.