Ok so I recently went camping and got the idea for this story. Yes there is a place in New Jersey called Point Mountain and yes I actually had to hike up there….with the poison ivy.

Speaker of the Trees

"Catch! calls the Once-ler.
He lets something fall.
It's a Truffula Seed.
It's the last one of all!
You're in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds.
And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.
Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care.
Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air.
Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack.
Then the Lorax
and all of his friends
may come back."
― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

Clary adjusted her sweater that was currently tied around her waist. It was sweltering, one of the worst heat waves and was Clary lounging in her air conditioned living room, sipping lemonade with her mom? That would be the logical, reasonable thing to do on this kind of day…but Clary was never one for being reasonable…or logical.

"Alright, I'm glad you're here! I know the weather is a bit…unbearable but remember each drop of sweat plants new trees, gives birth to new life!" Charlotte grinned as she climbed on the bus. It was always fun to see the new volunteers and even more amusing to see them work in this weather. Clary took a another swing from her water bottle, feeling the heavy, hot air press down on her neck even from the relief of the open window. The rolling greens of New Jersey flew past her as the bus careened dangerously on the highway, occasionally swerving to the left. It had taken her a while to get to this one, months of filing applications and she had almost forgotten about it until the email showed up.

Do something universal for the universe- take care of our Earth, before we don't have one to care for.

They had chosen her right before the worst heat wave of the century. The bus screeched to a stop as groans rose from all of the rows. Clary sighed as she pulled herself up, feeling the old material from the seat cover stick to her skin. It wasn't even ten o' clock and already her body was screaming to be home in the air conditioned bliss. What a city kid moment…she thought wryly.

The smell of burning rubber off the pavement stung Clary's nose as she filed off the bus and into a line under the pressure of the sun. Charlotte got up and addressed the group.

"Alright now we are going to Point Mountain, can anyone tell me what a mountain is?"

"A giant hill!" Someone yelled. Charlotte chuckled.

"Close, it is a geological land feature having an elevation of 1,000 feet or more. Point Mountain was actually 994 feet but Point Hill sounded stupid to the locals so they brought up rocks and piled it on until they got their 6 feet. So when we actually start to climb up there, you will see a lot of giant boulders on top of each other. And what we're going to be doing up there is sort of a….an annual cleanup. Just gather debris and plant new trees."

Long branches reached out, entangling themselves with others from the path and the long grass grew on their side of their trampled companions. As much as Clary hated hiking, she had to admit the dome shaped roof and padded trail was cool to walk on. Then she saw the boulders. They were large, bulky with moss covering patches of the gray. Clary bit her lip as the hard surface irritated her sensitive hand. She pulled herself up and slowly slid over one, only to have her foot slide.

Her mouth opened to yelp but was silenced by a hand grabbing her forearm and pulling her up. Her mouth closed as she looked up and saw Jace Herondale raising his eyebrows at her.

"You know you could try not to crack your head open, I'm sure that's not good for the trees." He remarked as Clary rolled my eyes. She shifted my bag which seemed very cumbersome to handle now and started moving forward. The group was far ahead as Jace and Clary lumbered along.

"What are you doing here?" Clary asked, looking straight ahead.

"What do you mean? Here as in, in this forest or in this great, state of existence?" He smirked.

"You know what I mean."

"I'm just performing a civil duty to the world and to humanity…same as you. By the way….how is the list going?"

"Well I'm here aren't I? So I guess it's going…" Clary trailed off. Jace shook his head.
"You still don't get it." He sighed.

"Get what? It's great that I'm doing things for people and changing stuff and all but really what is a tree going to matter in a lifetime?" Jace shook his head and chuckled.

"You have no idea."

The stopped in a small clearing lined with rocks. "Alright, I'll give you guys a minute to catch your breath and enjoy the view." Charlotte said and she placed her clipboard on a nearby rock. Clary turned and the view took her breath away. She was used to city skylines but the country was an entirely different story. The patches of golden seemed to arrange themselves like a patchwork quilt with a bushy, green border of trees completing the design. She could see everything from the rolling hills which squeezed close behind each other to the small steeple on the top of an incline.

"Wow…" She breathed.

"Kind of makes this more worth saving doesn't it?" Jace asked quietly next to her. The answer was clear and hung in the air as they both gazed out at the expansive countryside.

"Okay so what you guys are going to do is overlap rocks and plant trees. When rain falls, the water falls straight down the mountain, eroding it and making a path but now the path is too dangerous to walk up so we need you to divert the water somewhere else. Half of you will be placing rocks and the other half will be planting trees. We will assign you an area with a partner. If any one of you feels dizzy or sick, come to me straight away okay?" They all chimed in response.

The good news: Clary didn't have to lift ten pound boulders and place them accordingly, the bad part: she got Jace as a partner. She felt the seeds roll in her hands as she walked so many different sizes and shapes. She was lucky; she got the top of the mountain. The weather here was much more bearable than down there.

"I wonder what kind of trees we'll plant…" she mused out loud.

"A wait and see tree I would think." Jace said. Clary glanced at him.

"Really? I would never think that I would have to wait for a tree to grow."

"Well you know what they say…patience is a virtue. Besides, come back here in a few years and you'll see your tree all grown up."

"Hmm…we'll see…" Clary said.

"What? Is the weather so bad that you can't stand it? I think you breathed in too many subway fumes." Jace commented. Clary shrugged.

"A lot can change in a few years." Clary sighed.

They reached their destination. Clary, making sure to keep a good distance from Jace began scooping out dirt to plant the seed.

"You're doing it wrong." Clary raised an eyebrow at Jace. "The dirt is supposed to be deeper." Jace reached over and dug a deeper hole. Clary sighed in frustration.

"What exactly am I supposed to do? Take out a ruler and measure it?" She snapped. She didn't mean to be so snippy but the heat was getting to her.

"Guess….not everything has to be definite." Jace dropped the seed and covered the hole, patting it with his shovel.

"Do you always speak in cheesy, motivational banners?" Clary asked. Jace smirked.

"Only to you."

Clary was down to her last seed. It was an oval, brown and smooth. She rolled it between her fingers as she searched for a place to put it. There was a small clearing, mulch covering the ground. She sighed as she bent down, her knees sore and wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"Hey Jace!" She called. He walked over.

"You hollered?"

"Do you…want to help me plant this one?" He inspected the seed.

"Interesting, I can't quite say what type of tree this is."

"How about a wait and see tree?" Clary smiled. They dug the hole, being sure to smooth out the sides. Clary carefully placed the seed at the bottom, being aware of how close she was to Jace and she leaned down. His breath blew into her face and she tried not to let it distract her.

"Do you have it?" His breath smelled like mint as she pulled away. She could just nod, hoping that the blush could pass as a side effect of the heat. They covered the hole and Jace reached over and slid a pocket knife out.

"Oh now I see your real motivation for being up here." Clary said, staring at the blade. Jace laughed.

"If I wanted you dead, my motivation would have involved a body bag, I'm not that messy." He reached over and carved a J.C into the tree.

"I thought we were supposed to be saving trees not killing them." Clary protested.

"Calm down I didn't cut deep enough into the bark to do any harm any way it's a marker. For the next twenty years." Clary snorted.

"We'll see." But as they walked away, Clary glanced back at the small clearing, at the fantastic view. How many of these were going to be left? How much of the natural world is going to survive in the next 10, 20 years? Today she saved a part of it; today she made a difference to the mountain. She smiled at the tree. Please let it stay there in 20 years…

Decades Later

Cassandra raced through the trees, taking her as fast as her small legs could take her. She hated her brother, always making fun of her for believing in silly things like tree fairies. The path felt natural to her as her parents took her here all the time. Her small palms ran through the letters J.C which were now withered and eroded with age but they were still there.

Cassandra's sights were set on the tree next to it. It was her tree, the one she escaped to in the leafy canopies. It was one of the largest trees here and she was able to climb almost all the way to the top. Mama said that it had been there when she was young and she had always remembered where it was. Cassandra gripped the trunk and heaved herself up to a thick branch. The leafs tickled her face and she leaned forward to look at the view- the rolling hills, the steeple on the incline and the fields of gold outlined with green tufts of trees.

"Wow…"she breathed.