The Disappearance of Sally Hemming

Sally Hemming was a girl who loved trees! It seemed she was always in, or near some large tree. She could out climb all of the boys she knew, and would stay in a tree longer than anybody else by a mile!
Sally seemed to have an understanding of trees, others did not. She knew where the branches were, almost without looking, and always knew which branches would support her weight, and which branches had been compromised by insects or illness. Sally was a tree wizard! Most people thought she should have been born with green hair.
Other than that, Sally was an ordinary school girl, playing softball, running and swimming in the river; all the things the other children of her town loved.  She loved school and especially loved biology, always getting As. Of course, when her biology course had to do with trees, Sally received an A+, a perfect score!
As the years passed Sally found herself at a university in Virginia studying to become an arborist, a person who studies trees, shrubs and vines. Her love of trees had not waned over the years and she was becoming quite well known for her knowledge of the proper care and nutrition of trees.
Sally loved trees so much she wrote a poem about them once while she was hiking through the Virginia mountains.
 
Trees 
by Sally Hemming
Walking up the mountain I long to grasp a leaf gently in my hand
then turn, slowly,
wrapping myself in its tree,
becoming its strength and nobility,
partaking in
the adsorption of elements from the air and soil
as it builds steadily,
moment upon moment.
Measuring time in milliseconds
then millennia.
Forever aloof from the travails of men.
​
Sally often wished she could do what her poem described; become part of a tree. She knew if this could happen she would know EVERYTHING about trees!
She began to experiment. As she walked through the forest and she saw a nice leaf hanging shoulder height she would grasp it gently, hold it against her shoulder and turn, very gently, with purpose. She might feel a tingling as she turned but that was about as far as it went.
Then Sally took a course at her school on “mindfulness” which was intended to help students to center and focus more on their scholastic programs. Sally discovered that this course offered much more!  She learned that by quieting her mind she could focus her attention quite intently on what ever she was interested in. The course taught her how to listen to her breath as it went, quietly, in and out of her lungs. This stilled the internal chatter allowing her soul to flee the confines of her physical body.
Sally began to take the lessons she learned from this class into the forest. She would sit gently, quieting her mind, absorbing the feelings and intent of the trees, plants and animals about her until she felt a complete oneness with them.
After one very good session, as she walked silently back towards campus, she spotted the perfect leaf! She grasped it gently in her hand, then turned slowly, wrapping herself in it's tree, becoming it's strength and nobility. She felt her being dissolve into the tree as she merged with this giant oak. 
Her delight was beyond measure as she soared through the branches to the very top, from which she could look out over the countryside, seeing her university in the distance. She felt the giant tree pulling carbon dioxide from the air and water and minerals from the soil through the roots which covered an incredible area of the earth and intertwined with the roots of other trees in a dance of cooperation and love. After a few minutes, or hours or days in the tree, Sally realized that of all the emotions she felt, at becoming a part of this lovely living being, love was the most powerful and prominent. Love was the emotion the tree presented to her and to the world.  Sally lived in this love for a very long time, learning all of the ways of a tree. How it knew to cooperate with all of the other animals and plants in the forest so that, as a whole, the forest became more than any single individual plant or animal. It became a “FOREST” - Sally, at long last knew the meaning of the word! It meant love! Love of the animals for the trees, love of the bushes for the animals love of the beauty and magical qualities of the soil which was enriched and revered by all. It was a symphony of beauty, love and cooperation all rolled up into a fantastic green paradise for all to enjoy.
Eventually, Sally's tree came to realize that it's time on this beautiful earth, in this forest was coming to an end. Sally was sad, BUT the tree was not. It taught Sally that it was going to become food for fungi, a hiding place for mice and groundhogs. A place for grubs and worms which would become food for bears and raccoons and finally, it would enrich the soil on which many more beautiful trees and plants would grow and distribute the love this great tree had accumulated over it's very long life.
As the tree released it's form, Sally felt herself being drawn down to the earth. She found her body had been encased by the tree when she came to be one with it and she rejoined her perfectly preserved body, becoming a beautiful young girl again.
Gosh! She exclaimed, this feels weird as she bent her arms and legs, shook out her long red hair and began to remember how to walk, then run. Breathing in the air, she discovered that she could now feel the oxygen being absorbed, something she learned from the tree. When she looked around the forest seeing trees and plants she now had an understanding that greatly surpassed her old abilities. She felt what they felt, she could see what they saw.
Sally tried to guess the time; it seemed to be about noon. Then she started to walk in the direction of her university. The forest had changed quite a lot she realized, so she knew some considerable earth time had transpired since she first joined with the tree.  As she began to emerge from the forest there was not much she could recognize. The buildings were different, she could not recognize the automobiles as any she had ever seen before and when she arrived at the campus much had changed!  The biology department was still, however, pretty much the same, biology departments are like that!
As she walked in the main building, people were staring at her, in part, because her clothes were unlike anything being worn by the others. This made her feel a little uncomfortable. She made her way to the main administrative office, walked timidly up to the counter and asked for her favorite professor, Dr. Riches. “Who??” they asked.  “Dr. R. Harvard Riches” she repeated, “he teaches plant physiology  in Townsen Hall.”  “Are you certain you are in the correct department young lady?  There is no Dr. Riches in biology.”
Now Sally was worried! Had she been part of that tree for so long the entire world had changed?  “What is the year?” She asked timidly.  “Twenty one twenty two” several people replied simultaneously. “Oh my goodness,” Sally said as she raised her hands to her face and slowly slipped to the floor, unconscious.
Sally awoke in a white bed, in a white room with white furnishings. The brightness caused her to squint her eyes.  She leaned over on one elbow and seeing a nurse asked “Where am I?”
“You are in the hospital young lady. You gave everybody quite a start in the admin building when you collapsed to the floor!”
“Is that what happened?” Sally asked as she laid back down on the pillow. “Am I still in the university?” 
“Yes you are, let me go get the doctor so you two can have a chat.”
The doctor walked up to her bedside smiling a wide friendly smile which put Sally at ease just a little. “Good morning! My name is Dr. Stephens, everybody calls me Steve. How are you feeling young lady?”
“A little groggy I must admit” she offered.
“Lets start out with your name,” Steve said as he invited the nurse to have a seat and fill out the appropriate forms.
“Sally Hemming” she replied.
“How old are you Sally?”
“Twenty three, and I am a student here, but nobody seems to recognize my major professor's name!”
“And, what is his name?” asked Steve.
“Dr. Riches” Sally answered, “Dr. R. Harvard Riches.”
“Well” said the doctor, “that is unusual because there has not been a Dr. Riches at this university for quite some time! When were you in his class?”
Nineteen ninety eight.
“Whoa!” Said Steve, “that would be, let me see now –  124 years ago!”
Sally put her hands up to her temples and said “OH MY GOODNESS!  How can that be possible?”
“As far as I know, Steve said, it is not!  But, lets not worry about that just yet, lets focus on your health and get you situated.”
“Good idea” she replied.
After a series of tests Steve declared she was the healthiest person he had possibly ever seen!  “How have you maintained your health?” Steve asked. “I wish I was as healthy as you are!”
“It's a long story” Sally responded, with a long sigh.
“I bet it is!” Steve replied but restrained himself from asking further.
“We found you in our records: Sally Hemming, you were a grad student, a very good arborist from what I have read. And then in 1989 you disappeared!  There were dozens of searches through the forest and beyond, and a good many newspaper articles but you were never found.”
“And now I have been found” she said. “Or rather, I have found you!”
“Yes, so it seems” Steve smiled.
“I have arranged a place for you to live and while we get this all sorted out I have spoken with Dr Levine, the universitie's resident arborist to show you around. I am sure you two will have much to talk about. A great deal has happened in your area of study in the last 124 years!
“I'm sure” Sally replied.
Sally immediately liked Dr Levine, who was much younger than she expected. He must be truly dedicated, to have achieved so much in such a short time she thought. He was a gentle unassuming soul who clearly loved trees as much as she did. “Please call me Norm” he said and they shook hands. They began to chat away as if they were resuming an old conversation. Walking through the campus, identifying various trees and shrubs they were oblivious to everything around them, save each other and the plants.
With each tree or plant they came upon, Sally would lay her hand on the trunk or grasp the leaves.
Norm watched as she did this and could have sworn that she was actually penetrating the bark just a little but said nothing. After touching the tree Sally could go on at some length as to the health and history of each tree and plant. Dr Levine was dumbfounded but absolutely fascinated! They came upon an apple tree which was growing old and was no longer producing more than a few apples every year, Sally laid her hand on the trunk and quietly listened then she instructed Norm to plant roses around it, which he did. Not knowing why.
Lost in their chattering, time was slipping by. When Dr. Levine glanced at the clock tower on campus and declared, “OH my goodness! I was suppose to have you at the women's dorm to meet with Mrs Spooner, of student housing thirty five minutes ago!” So off they went.
Mrs Spooner was a delightful soul and gave Sally a brief tour of the facilities and showed her to a room which was to be hers for the time being. It was a lovely private room with a private bath and a mini kitchen. More than sufficient for a scientist!
Norm bid them adieu and invited Sally to come and visit his department in the morning where they could continue their conversation.
 “Delightful plan” Sally said as she settled into her new abode.
After a very nice day together, talking of, what else? Trees. Norm took her to his favorite restaurant in the old part of town. Sally thought it odd that the “Old” part of town was all “new” to her.
Norm and Sally became very good friends, virtually inseparable. Sally was hired as an arborist and when word spread of her knowledge and sense of plants and trees the demand for speaking engagements became almost more than she could accommodate!
Eventually, as one might have guessed, Norm and Sally were married. On the morning after the wedding, as they sat having a cup of coffee, Norm said. "You know Sally, I have never asked where you were for the last 124 years but If you are inclined, I would very much like to know."
Oh, replied Sally, laying her hand on Norm's and looking him squarely in the eye, believe me Norman, you would NEVER believe!
But -
He did.
PS – By the following summer the old apple tree that Norm planted roses around was producing more apples than anybody on campus could ever remember!