When the sapling is born it is unable to utter any words. They have no voice, but they do have the ability to listen. Minute by minute, day by day they hear and try to replicate the song. The song that was heard since they were born, the song that was sung since the beginning of time. After intent listening, the sapling slowly gains the ability to whisper. A low and beautiful whisper. These saplings that learn how to whisper turn into quietsaps. Cute, barely audible noises are heard from these quietsaps. It is their very first achievement. If they can do this at such a tender age, what can they do when they have grown?

The songs around these quietsaps continue to inspire. It was not long ago when these saplings were born. It was not long ago when these saplings could not speak. Will it be long until these quietsaps learn more? Growth is good, growth is progress. Every living thing experiences progress, do they not? 

Months go by and the whispers continue. Some saplings are more timid than others and they take weeks to learn how to whisper. Some saplings are bold, and they can only still whisper after weeks have gone by. These weeks turn into months and those who whispered the most, who put in the most effort hummed faintly at first but soon more audibly. The humming not overly loud but more than a faint whisper. The quietsap had learned to hum and became a humsap. Soon the lone humsap began to have quietsaps join it. As twelve months had gone, and a year had completed all the quietsaps had learned how to hum. The last quietsap had learned just in time to have become a humsap before it turned a year old, a joyous event indeed.

With renewed resolve, the humsaps hummed forward. They hummed for weeks, they hummed for months. For years they hummed, some losing steam, but they had each other. They could hear the singing around them, the same singing they heard when they were born. It is that very song they strived for. They had their past to remind them. They had come so far, though their journey was not over. Sometimes the saplings had lows. It was okay to be an undersap, it was okay to feel, they were only saplings. Sometimes they felt a surge, comeback saps. Some saplings even felt like the kings and queens, the monarchs. Were they trailblazers?

There were whispers, hesitancy for this blazing, was this type of fire for them. Should they have the fire of hope? Should they shine as bright as they could and not care about what others thought? Should they care about what happened to others?

A very difficult predicament to be in. Is there a right answer? How does a sapling prosper without harming others? Can one prosper to their fullest without using others as stepping stones? These questions and others were thought of by those who took the time to reflect. It was indeed beneficial to learn these rules. Two simple yet extraordinary rules; it is good to take time out to contemplate, and that there is a time and place for everything.

Years passed by graying away their youth. Some spent their time in concentration humming as many tunes as they could. Others had begun to slip, slowly at first. One by one they started to give up and the humsaps began to no longer hum.

It was a blessed dawn when something happened. The only humsap who had not given up despite years of no progression. That very same humsap transformed. It sang.

The humsap had turned into a sapsing. It sang with a most melodious voice, and the dawn prayer was never more beautiful. This new yet old song woke up the humsaps. They looked in awe at the lone, singing sapsing. It was as if they were in a trance, they could do nothing but listen. Soon the trance wore off and when it did, the humsaps felt a second wind. They redoubled their efforts trying to emulate the training and dedication of the lone sapsing. The sapsing who chose not to give up on its goals. The sapsing who for years had no idea if it would all be worth it. One by one the humsaps gained the ability to sing. Each time, they celebrated. They celebrated for one another. The saplings loved for themselves what they loved for each other.

More years passed by and less celebrations occurred. The sapsings were all singing but something was amiss. There was still one humsap left. The very same humsap that took almost a full year to turn into humsap when it was a quietsap. The same determination fueled it as  the first of the sapsings. Neither gave up. Their efforts had been similar but their results had been different up to now. The lone humsap was not deterred, it continued to try. This story however is not about that lone humsap transforming into a sapsing.

It didn’t quite become a sapsing, but a sapling’s worth was not determined by its ability to become a sapsing. The worth of a sapling is more than its achievement. And if one listened very carefully to that lone humsap, they might also believe.