The Barnacle Tree's Tiny Fable!

drawing by ana traina ~2012~

“Once upon a time people believed, and some to this very day, that the Barnacle Tree existed along the coast of Lancashire. They believed that on this ever so odd and curious tree grew little shells of pink and white wherein little feathery creatures dwell. Some say that they resembled a goose. Now, here is the part some find difficult to swallow, it is said that when the pearly shells matured, the tiny creature fell into the ocean deep and became the fowl that we now call, Barnacle Geese! The country folk in the Northern most part of England call them Brant Geese... Yet, there is a sad element to this lilliputian fable, it is said, that when the tiny creature fell upon land, it perished and left not a single solitary remain.