I am a tree, and I am in a grove.

I have grown into a large tree, my branches cover the grove and many birds and animals live within them.

My roots reach even deeper than my branches, down into the cold earth where the water lives, my roots drink this water deeply, the grove needs a spring to truly grow. I am that spring just as much as I am a tree.

The animals in my grove grow larger, all of them work together to bring resources into the grove, mostly dead animals from outside. They make excellent fertilizer and my sap grows rich with nutrients and sugar. I start to grow just a bit faster, I am far larger than a tree should be at my age.

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My leaves shed water in miniscule droplets, filling the grove with a faint fog and encouraging the smaller plants to grow ever larger. If the animals are bigger the plants they hide among and eat must too grow, as a tree I can help them grow.

The puddle pulses within its cage, and I make sure my roots grow ever stronger. It can smell the flourishing life, it will not reach. The bones within my roots seem to grow warmer with each pulse from the puddle, my roots strangle the bones ever tighter.