Stephen signed deeply, “Elowin, I can see you need to ponder on these stories.   True happiness comes from the act of giving, not receiving.  It is a false assumption to anticipate rewards from giving.   The true destiny of all life lies in its giving.  When one gives, all receive.  Give serious thought to that reality.  Until you come to that conviction, there is nothing further I can say.  The responsibility rests on you.”

     Stephen signaled to the others of his party, who gathered their belongings, then walked back to the trail.  None of the trees moved or attempted to follow them.  Apparently, they had returned to their forest existence.

     “Stephen, it appears that we are back to your coals of kindness philosophy, doesn‘t  it,” considered Adital?  “I believe your lesson had a profound effect on that gang of trees.  At least we have been reunited with Oxford and can make our way to Packard City, barring any unforeseen teleportation.”

     “And, it’s about time,” snapped. Oxford. “I want to get out of this weird forest as soon as possible and find myself in a place filled with breeding and culture. I must tell you, talking and walking trees happen to be my worst nightmare.”

       “I would have thought it was fairies,” chuckled Adital. The explorers resumed their journey, all along keeping a watchful eye for any danger lurking around them.  Actually, there was more danger lurking ahead and it was crafty and as clever as a wagon-load of monkeys.

     Adital was confused. He believed it would take a drastic catastrophe to get trees to leave their lifelong homes and chase a peevish, self-centered complainer around the forest. Was there more to learn about Oxford that these galactic travelers should discover? Lucky for Adital, Amos had re-connected, wondering how they were getting along.

     “Adital.” beamed Amos, “are you OK?”

     “Amos, my friend, we‘ve been transported from Cleveland,” answered Adital.  “I will explain everything later, and it is a long and strange story.  But, let me tell you what has happened since we are back on Piscary. Oxford has turned into a mystery.”

     Adital told Amos of their adventures with Oxford and Stephen’s talk that enabled them to escape the trees.  Amos listened carefully and then offered an amazing revelation. He told Adital how Oxford had butchered the affairs at the castle and had stolen almost all of the money from the treasury.

     “Be wary of Oxford.” declared Amos. “There appears to be is evil in him. Trees do not bear false witness, so you must be careful of Oxford.

     Adital matched step with Stephen, who turned to him and said, “this is how we got in trouble last time.  We must not let Oxford get out of our sight because it seems forces are working against him.”

     Adital thought for a minute and agreed.  “I still wonder why the fairies tied him down.  Everything I‘ve heard that fairies have been good. There are stories of children who have gone out on a midsummer eve to watch them dance and sing.  According to Amos, he uncovered many problems Oxford experienced with the fairies. Perhaps the story about the fairy wanting fresh cream wasn’t entirely true.”  

     “You have a good point,” replied Stephen.  “I have a feeling the fairies led him into the forest and perhaps set the trees against him.  That is something fairies could do. This is indeed a magical part of the forest, and I will be happy when we have passed through.”

     Oxford had stopped and walked back to Adital and Stephen.  “I mean, can you two pick up the pace and hurry along,” he blurted out, “there’s a small inn down the path, and it would be nice to spend the night there rather than in the woods.”  

     “We’re doing the best we can,” replied Adital.  It‘s been quite a hectic morning for us while you wandered lost in the forest.  Would you like to tell us what happened after you took a wrong turn? “

     “A little voice in my head told me the path was a shortcut, and it seemed like a sensible thing to do.  Sometimes you have to listen to your intuition if you want to get things right,” insisted Oxford.  

     “Your intuition created a giant mess for us.  We went looking for you and ended up going through a portal to another planet. Let’s try to stay together for the rest of our journey so we could help one another, if necessary.  This forest is filled with magic, and it would seem that the fairies still have business with you,” retorted Adital.  “It‘s our job to get you to Packard City.”

     Oxford grumbled under his breath and struck out alone, ahead of Stephen and Adital.  Stephen shrugged and said, “it looks like he wants to be on his own, doesn’t it?”

     “We‘ll keep an eye on him as best we can,” replied Adital.

     Unfortunately, they weren’t the only ones keeping an eye on Oxford. Stephen and Adital didn‘t realize that Oxford spent his life being in trouble with the fey folk. He was a rude soul, and because of his boorishness, he made life miserable for his neighbors and the fairies who lived around him. You must know, out of everyone, fairies were the least forgiving.   Since previous payback methods proved unsuccessful, the angry fairies felt it was now time for real revenge.  

     Even though the fairies had been frustrated many times, they were a race that never admitted defeat. They kept a bag of tricks ready and were prepared to launch another scheme to discourage Oxford‘s greediness. “If Oxford and the fairies share one thing,” cried one fairy, “it is our love for gold.” The fairies agreed on a plan that would be to use Oxford’s love of gold as his downfall.

     The fairies flew to the Spellbinding Oracle and asked to be given an Enchantment. Their purpose was justified and they received a magical, deep purple stone that would grant them a wish. It was their intention to turn Oxford into a golden tree.

     Fairies are not evil spirits, but they believed Oxford should have a better purpose than trying to accumulate as much wealth as he could. Turning him into a beautiful golden tree, would bring joy to the children, and a wonderful feeling of well-being to the forest.

     Adital and Stephen did their best to keep up with Oxford, but he was driven by a desire to end his journey. No one would blame him for this.  Needless to say, he soon outpaced the galactic adventurers and was far ahead before long. The fairies took advantage of this, and flew around his head like a swarm of butterflies.  They evoked their wish and Oxford became a beautiful golden tree.  From that time on, Oxford would be only kind and helpful.

     The fairies flew and whispered their deed to Adital and Stephen.  Adital turned to Stephen and proclaimed, “does this end our adventure?”

     Stephen exclaimed, “Don’t believe anything until it happens”