The Tree That Held a Thousand Names

A vast tree in the center of a sacred forest had names carved into its bark — not by human hands, but by time. People found their names there only when they were ready to accept some deep part of themselves. A wandering man searched desperately for his, but saw nothing. Only when he knelt beneath the branches and whispered his shame did the bark slowly shift, revealing his name intertwined with new leaves. The tree had waited not for him to search, but to surrender.