This story begins with a young boy. A boy that sees wonders everywhere he looks in the world. And the most wonderful thing in his eyes is a grove. An old and dying grove called Pando. Perhaps you may even have heard of it before. Weighing thousands of tons Pando is the largest single organism on earth.

Thousands of trees sharing a single root system. The most conservative research places its age at over ten millennia. In the grand scheme of the universe, it is but a speck of dust, but on earth, it is the single most significant being. And this eight-year-old boy, on his first visit, begins to learn this.

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"Grandpa, come on, let's go already," I say impatiently.

“Ok, I’m just getting a flashlight to put in the bag.”

Grandpa Berto has always been a very active person. So even though he's old, it's not like he gets tired easily. But I want to go already. He is bringing me to the forest of Pando.

He has always told me stories about it. Stories about how he used to come here when he was younger. About how beautiful and peaceful it is. I just can't wait to plant my feet in the soil of the ancient forest. I know, I know… not anything magical… probably. But it is still cool as heck. I have been waiting for years to come here. After much begging and cajoling, I finally convinced him and my parents to bring me here. Well, convinced them to let him bring me here.

I tighten the straps on my pack and set out with grandpa. We climb a slight uphill incline towards my destiny. Soon enough my head is swiveling around the place. Now, don't get me wrong, at first glance, it looks like any other forest. I had been to plenty of them, but something is different here. There is just an intangible feeling in the air that I can't quite place.

We walk about 20 minutes till we get to a clearing a dozen meters wide.

"This looks like a good spot to stop," Grandpa says, we put our packs in a dry spot and keep talking.

“But why can’t you just put a resistor on it to drop the voltage?”

"Two reasons if you change power consumption for some reason, the voltage drop would be different, so you can only tune it to a single load. And we aren't talking about a very small load like a LED where even if you triple power consumption you are still spending a negligible amount of energy. If you do that on anything more power-hungry you would be wasting way too much power," he explains.

"I think I get it now. I hadn't thought of that. With transistors, you solve both problems at once." I reply.

“If you do it correctly, the same way you would in an electronic charger. If you use it just like a resistor you only solve the first problem.”

We continue for hours talking about everything under the sun. But the main topic, however, is still electronics. I can’t get enough of it. He used to be an electrician for one of the biggest household appliance manufacturers in the world. He didn't even complete the 4th grade, but he just had "it".

That mindset of ingenuity that no amount of study seemed to bring. He was the best grandpa in the whole world. He came from another country with only the clothes on his back and built a new life here.

When the sun was starting to come down, I was standing alone at one of the trees thinking about what grandpa Berto just told me.

The grove was dying. Nobody knew exactly why. I had heard him speak of that other times, but it didn't sink in until I was physically here. This wonderful place might disappear. I might not even be able to bring my own grandson here.

I laugh at my thought, it would take forever for me to become a grampa. But if I ever became so old, I wanted to become like Grampa Berto, not a crotchety old man.

My laugh disappears and sorrow fills my tiny heart, without a single word I buried the rest of the apple I was eating near one of the tallest trees of the grove. It was slightly larger than the rest, and it seemed the perfect place for it. I walked to the tree, closed my eyes, and opened my heart.

“I hope this will help you be healthy again. So you can grow big and strong.”

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Pando’s POV – 3°Person

Energy, more than I ever felt before hit me. And at the same time, soothing, a small being is in contact with me. Some variety of moving being above ground.

I focus on absorbing as much of the energy, energy in more abundance than ever before, and as is the way of the Earth, I gift it a thread back to whoever is connected with me. Whoever is delivering a thread of this precious resource to me. Whoever holds in their heart the all-encompassing kindness needed to allow me to take notice of them.

As the torrent of energy comes to a close, I return the tiny tread of a thousandfold.

As the brief moment passes, I go back to my simple task.

Grow.

Grow.

Grow

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Nash’s POV

I started seeing a wondrous display. Strange give I have my eyes closed. A thin white strand of mist rush into my hands and chest. It continues for a good while, minutes at least. By the end, I’m starting to fidget, but I keep still and hold in my heart my well-wishes for the tree. I’m pretty sure I’m not the one giving him anything, but it can't hurt right?

As the lights fade, and my head is dizzy, I take a step back almost falling. Opening my eyes, a strange screen appears in front of my eyes for a few moments.

Initializing

I blink and the strange screen starts to fade away. I don't understand what just happened, but I turn to the strange tree and try to share a piece of myself with the tree. That is what must have happened.

Going off instinct and without control, I don’t let any doubt sway me. I give my all, and I succeed. No amount of training would help to make up for an addled and distracted mind.

This time I don’t see anything, but I feel something coming from my hands and I watch as it dives down below the earth into the tree I touched.

For minutes this cycle continues. I know that something magical is happening. Not the magic of lifting a car to save someone you love, but the kind of magic that would let someone lift ten cars to save some you loved.

As I’m leaving the grove, I look back and start to miss the forest. It’s almost as if I’m leaving behind a piece of myself.

I imagine Pando already missing me. What concerns do trees have? How much sun there is or the amount of water? Probably stuff like that.

I try to understand what happened but can't make sense of it. Well, I got plenty of other things to occupy my attention.

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After a whole year, I come back. This time I leave bits of organic matter buried all around and take a broken-off branch, cut it, and plant it. I do the same for hundreds of cuttings all around the grove. A drive fills me and I search for loose roots, leaves, and logs. I bury everything all around the grove. Berto doesn't understand why I'm doing all this, but he helps during most of the day.

I'm not sure this is the best choice to help Pando, but it makes a lot of sense in my mind. With a grin plastered on my face, I say:

"I will help you grow big and strong. I will make your name known throughout the world, so everyone can experience at least a little bit of your magic."

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Pando’s POV

I recognize one of the moving beings above me. He is bringing food for the soil. That is good. Let me gift a little of natural energy to him. Moving beings react well when I do so. Not the precious resource from last season, that I already gave plenty away to him. Something that all other static beings like myself give to those that travel their grounds.

Over the past year, I noticed even more how it helps those tiny beings moving around above. They have enough food, but they need the balance this energy provides. So, I hold a little of it back, and now, I give a tithe of it to this amongst all of the other moving beings. I do this to all who take notice of me, but he is special, and over the next cycle of the sun whenever he touches me one of my limbs I’m ready.

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Nash’s Pov

After working harder than ever, I leave the grove feeling stronger and more reinvigorated than ever. It's like when you do a lot of fun exercises. But because it's fun, you can barely feel it. Except this feeling is multiplied by a thousand times. It’s something to be proud of, I accomplished something here.

I know mom would tell me not to be proud, yadda, yadda, yadda. But I don't care, I just am.

Though I don't know how much it will help, pride fills my chest and I let the ease only a hard day's work brings, settle my mind.

Best of all, the grove doesn't seem to be dying anymore. This time didn't see a single tree worse than last year. A few even seemed to have become healthier.

I leave the forest with next year's visit already in mind. I can almost taste the sweet aroma and feel the power running through my veins. It's addicting.

Eleven months go by and when Pando’s visit was almost up, the unthinkable happens. My favorite person in the world suddenly is no longer there.

An unassuming old man that everyone for a dozen miles knew. The kind old man that would go out with a pocket full of quarters and come back with nothing. An old man that made many kids extremely happy, stuffing their faces with candy, or playing with whatever they bought.

A kind old man, who was the most important person in my life. If I had the choice to save only a single person in the entire world, he would be my choice. I might regret it, but I knew in my mind that would have been my choice.

After much begging, I manage to convince my parents to take me to the forest. I could see it in their eyes I will not be coming back here. They would consider spending so much money, time, and effort to come to a forest to be a huge waste. There were so many other places just as good so much closer to home. There were many other forests and parks much closer to home.

They simply cannot see the wonders of this magical place. They may have their qualities, but in that instant, I somehow knew. A distorted view of the world, brought about by the mainstream cult I was raised in, blinded them to the truth plain to see.

Not the magical nature of the grove, that was more ethereal and most people missed it. What they didn't see was an aspect of my life's purpose.

I try not to be too hard on them, it’s not my place. I will stealthily attempt to show them the error of their ways. But in the end, it is each person's responsibility to see the truth for themselves. Even as anger fills me, I never let it out, it begins to sour our relationship.

Setting foot outside the car, I run in Pando’s direction. I make my track to the closest sapling I planted a year ago, and I’m delighted to see them already standing 5 feet tall. They all look healthy and my walk through the grove gives me hope.

I came dressed in rugged jeans and a t-shirt that shouldn't give me any problems. In a few minutes, I leave my parents behind. They are happy to just sit and rest for the entire day. So I’m not concerned about leaving them on their own.

Seeing a tree trunk almost completely torn off, I slowly climb the tree by hugging it. Three meters go by in a flash. This time as I touch Pando and he infuses me with strength, I notice it more clearly than ever and relish the feeling. Soon enough, I'm hanging from the branch. I swing my body until it finishes breaking off.

With an industrious mindset, I run around the entire grove placing a few spokes strategically to extend the size of the grove. This time, all of them are closer together. About 10 meters from each other, instead of approximately 30 meters, as I did on my first visit. When placing each tiny cutting, I try to send my strength, my hopes, and dreams along.

Spokes 50 trees in length are all I can do and by the end of each, I’m exhausted. I'm pretty sure it has little to do with my physical exertion. I’m mentally exhausted. Like being put to do something you hate, alongside someone that drains everything good about you. It's that tiredness that manifests physically without having tired yourself physically.

But every time I come back to the grove, a few seconds touching a tree or root makes it all go away. Pando charges my batteries and I’m walking on clouds again. Like I just woke up full of energy. I know it isn't true rest, but it helps. Ninety percent of any extraordinary feat is mental.

By noon I calculate how many kilometers I ran.

While planting slightly over a thousand saplings. No… a thousand pairs. Each spoke… transitions… I think…. 25 kilometers. Well, it looks to be a good pace.

I'm famished so meeting my parents I eat a hearty lunch. They are already giving me indications that we should be getting ready to leave soon, but I don't let that dissuade me and soon I'm off again. I carry on my back, logs, and broken branches that I find near.

I don't let a single second go to waste. Soon I'm carrying almost my body weight back and forth. It doesn't make sense that I still have energy. Following traditional wisdom, I should have dropped dead of exhaustion already. Still, every time I sit for a 20-second break, energy refills me and I’m fully alert and replenished. This allows me to keep pushing as hard as I can for hours, while barely feeling the exhaustion.

I run to get something, put it on my back, and run back. I find depressions or soft dirt and place whatever I brought on it, digging with a one-handed shovel. Usually, about 2 buckets of soil in a couple of seconds, and slightly cover what I brought.

This way, Pando will have plenty of nutrients on the soil, and he will be able to grow even stronger and larger.

A couple of hours into this process, I notice that the first load I brought is already visibly decomposing. Only very subtle signs, but without a doubt, they are there. Now that is magic. Yammy, yummy, Pando, eat it all.

Soon after I take my shoes off and realize it is even less tiring doing it this way. Though I take care not to hurt my feet. That would be counterproductive. Can Pando can strengthen me even without direct touch to one of his trees or roots? It seems so.

By sundown, almost 7 pm, I'm truly exhausted. I must have run another 40 kilometers. During the entire time, I only saw a couple of people from afar and I kept my distance. I didn't want to have to explain what I was doing. For all I knew, they would try to stop me. Grown-up people had all kinds of silly rules about stuff.

At the end of the day, what I accomplished was nothing superhuman and I knew it. Though it was very close, especially for someone without proper training. But I no longer felt ordinary, I was extraordinary, if not yet downright superhuman. I could do anything if I put my mind to it. With enough time and training, I could swim the bottom of a lake and be a fish for 10 minutes or heal someone just by touching them. Maybe even grow wings to fly. That was my hope and belief as I look back a the last of the tress that is part of the grove. I would be back, somehow I knew that, but it might take a long time. Maybe ever if I had to depend on my parents.

Now not needing to keep myself awake, I let the exhaustion wash over me.

This was a good day's work. Now, I wake in a week’s time.

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Reality comes crashing against my will, as it always does. But even as bend like Notredamus, a seed of my will still sit in my heart. Always within me, that I nurture and care for it as well as I cand. None of my friends understood what fascinated me so about Pando. And I definitely couldn't talk about magic with them given our upbringing.

So even in the darkest of nights, of miles away from our parents, when we were igniting fireworks or reading something we weren’t supposed to, a small degree of separation was there.

When I was so bent, I was about to brack, light comes to me. The burden is still just as heavy, but now at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. An opportunity, one step that might take me closer to Pando makes itself known.

A bicycle. Not the single gear kid bicycle I had. That was only good enough to go to the supermarket 2 miles away. But a proper bicycle, 18 gears, 23 mm tires, and weighing than 20 pounds. I could cross the country on a bicycle like that, let alone the 100 miles to Pando. I knew it was crazy, but it was my kind of crazy.

I would probably need to settle for a cheaper one at first, but that very day I started to scrounge money together. Nothing else was as important, and nothing was beneath me in my path to Pando. In only 5 months I managed to buy it and soon I was doing 20 miles every day.

I increased the pace slowly then started doing 25, 30, 40 miles and beyond. I traveled to points in every single forested area around my city. Once in a while, I did longer rides on the weekends. Eighty, a hundred miles rides.

Over three years later, coming up on my 14th anniversary, I set out in the world. I was used to getting slightly more tired as the kilometers pile up. This time was different. It felt so easy. Throughout the journey, pumping the chank down felt easier than ever, as if there was a tailwind, I rode like never before.

Traveling 190 kilometers in less than 5 hours. Almost uncontrollable feelings filled me as my eyes see the first of the trees from my best friend.

I ran towards the tree like a little kid who hasn't seen their favorite uncle all year. With open arms and laughing wildly. I barely even feel the impact as I hit the tree with my entire body and hug it with all my strength.

"I missed you, Pando."

I kiss the tree and wait for a moment as a tidal wave of vigor hits me. I’m floating as Pando greets me just as enthusiastically as I hoped.

Only minutes later I notice the people around. Dozens of people coming to Pando as well. So I shrink my shoulders slightly, trying to pass unnoticed. Though even after trying to not be stealthy, my chest slowly fills again, and I eventually stop trying to shrink myself as I simply breathe the pure air.