The Tree Strikes Back

Along the ends of the limbs, across the leaves,a legion of breeding insects swarmed the branches and leaves of a cottonwood tree. They began to chew their way into the soft tissues, the sweet nectar that fed their unquenchable thirst. Then, with a vegetable vengeance, the tree squirted out a sticky sap, drowning and trapping the crawling multitudes. An army of single-minded insects lay entombed over the woody and leafy ground. But these nymphs would be reborn, growing wings, parting from their old shells, leaving behind their outer skin to fly towards the sun.