This is a little bit before Thalia joins up, if you know what I mean...
Being a tree sucks.
It's one of those "don't try this at home, kids" kind of thing. It's even worse than sitting in the most boring class with the most boring teacher ever. I mean, what is there to do as a tree? Sure, I was 'protecting the border' and all that, but it wasn't exactly what you would call fun.
Not like I really had a choice. I wasn't about to let Luke and Annabeth get killed, so I had to do something. But dying would probably be a lot more exciting than being a tree for five years. I even had a tree nymph try to invade!
Of course, trees don't really have brains or senses. So as you can imagine, I had only a very hazy feeling of what was going on around me. I couldn't see or hear or smell, but I could almost taste, sometimes. Sometimes it felt as if I could taste my surroundings.
Time was nonexistent. I knew that it had been a long time and that time was moving very slowly; other than that, I never knew the time of day, because I had no need for it. I was there, but I had no purpose. I was alive, but I wasn't.
When I 'woke up', it was as if I had never left. Half-Blood Hill was in front of me, and there were Grover and Annabeth—but Luke was gone, and in his place was some boy that I had never seen before. But I was awake, I was alive, I was free! It was a great, but at the same time, horrible feeling, like you've woken from a deep sleep and are perfectly rested—but at the same time, you have no idea what has been going on around you. I was confused and disoriented.
Now the fleece protects Half-Blood Hill. Percy saved the day and everything was amazing. But I can't help feeling that I was more useful as a tree.