This is a free and original short fiction work for adults written and illustrated by Alex Inglewood,
with help from GPT-3 and Stable Diffusion.
Estimated reading time: 5-10 minutes
Our Story Begins…
The small sapling was barely more than a sprout when it arrived at the shop. Despite its size, the tiny sapling captivated on shopper named Ani, who couldn’t help but want to take it and nurture it into something beautiful. They felt an odd connection to this seemingly simple life form, as if this delicate tree carried some sort of profound lesson for them to learn.
Taking a deep breath, Ani mustered up his courage and carefully bundled up his new charge before making his way home. Despite its size, Ani held onto the hope that someday this tiny tree would become more than merely a cute novelty and become something special to grace their home one day.
At first, Ani had no idea how to care for the sapling. In time, he learned just how much work went into caring for such a small thing: watering regularly, ensuring proper sunlight and nutrition, and occasional pruning. It was a slow and patient process, but over many years, his efforts began paying off as sparse sprigs turned into lush foliage.
Eventually Ani grew too old to care for the small tree, so he gave it to his daughter, Miho. She watched her father care for the plant as she grew up and she continued her father’s diligent care. She pruned the tree to give it a shape more to her liking, and placed it in a pot that was more to her taste. Time passed and she gave the tree plenty of loving care, allowing the plant to grow strong in a controlled manner. Patience became an essential part of caring for this beloved tree, one that Miho came to understand better as the years passed.
She taught that lesson as best she could to her own daughter, Chiho, but she was not as patient a person as her mother. When it came time for her to care for the family bonsai, she pruned off too many branches and the tree began to struggle. Horrified that she had ruined her mother’s and grandfather’s tree, she began to follow their instructions more seriously, patiently coaxing and nurturing the tree until it became strong again. However, it never looked as it did before.
Chiho knew that she had to pass the family bonsai on to someone else, but it was a difficult choice. She did not want her struggles with the tree to have been in vain. After much deliberation, she chose one of her nephews, Kenji, as its next caretaker and taught him everything they needed to know about bonsai and how to tend for this particular one. As a parting gift, Chiho gave them what remained of the original pruning scissors that had belonged to both her mother and grandfather—a reminder of where the tree had come from.
Reassuring Chiho, Kenji took charge of caring for the bonsai going forward, confident that its beauty would live on. Under Kenji’s watch, the tree grew larger and increasingly dense with lush foliage that was deep green in summer and shades of oranges and reds come autumn. Each change brought joy to those who grew up around the tree, giving more meaning to its legacy for each one of them.
The tree continued to pass down the generations within the family, but sadly war broke out and the last remaining descendants were killed. Luckily, the tree was big enough and strong enough that it managed to survive the catastrophe. Looters discovered the bonsai tree in the ruined family home. They were desperate and looking for anything of value to sell so they could feed themselves in the now broken land. They sold it to a foreigner, who took it back to their home in a faraway land. There they kept the tree as a trophy. When they grew tired of caring for it, they sold it at auction.
Among the bidders was a master who saw the bonsai tree, who understood how many centuries of patient care must have gone into forming its lovely branches. She saw more than simply a physical object, but the passion, dedication, and hard work that built its beauty over time. The master could not let this treasure fall into unappreciative hands, so she purchased the bonsai and brought it to her collection in a public garden. Now the bonsai and the legacy of the family who cared for it for so long lives on, and it can be seen and admired by many.
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