Lover’s Embrace

by Shelly Kneupper Tucker on January 3, 2010

Sometimes I hear my Grandfather’s voice whispering stories inside my head. Yesterday, my husband and I took a walk and found two trees that had grown together. As we marveled at those trees, hugging like a pair of old lovers, Papaw’s slow East Texas drawl came through loud and clear. Pardon the length of it, but my Papaw never knew when to hush.

Two old lovers share an embrace.

Gal, you see them two trees over yonder all twined together? Them two has been together so long they’ve grown into one — just like an old married couple. Kinda looks like two gnarled old lovers locked in an embrace, don’t it?

Well, there’s a story in them two trees, if’n you got time to set a spell. I know you’re busy, but you have to take time for story. That’s how we tell ourselves things we might not see otherwise. So, set yourself down right here and let me tell you a tale.

You ain’t gonna believe this, but once upon a time the gods walked the land in disguise. Instead of their bright and shinin’ selves, they seemed to be just ordinary folks — they could hide like that. Leastwise, that’s what them ancient Romans believed.

Now one day Zeus (he was the head honcho) and Hermes, who was one of his young’uns, decided to go out in the wide world to see how things were goin’ with the people out there. So they disguised themselves as hippies, left their fancy offices in that big buildin’ out in Los Angeles, and started travelin’ here, there, and yon. It was a wild ride.

To make a long story shorter, they wound up one evenin’ in a teeny tiny town just north of Fort Worth. They were plumb tuckered out and hungry to boot, but there weren’t any restaurants or hotels around because that town wasn’t any bigger than a minute. Zeus had heard how Texans brag about their “hospitality,” so he decided to test it and see if someone could help a weary traveler. He started tappin’ on doors.

He went up to one big brick house that looked like sump’n out of one of them fairy tales. He rang the doorbell, but nobody answered. He could hear that rock and roll music blastin’ away inside … and he knew that somebody was home (besides, he saw a Venetian blind in the window lift up a hair and fall back down). Nobody ever came to the door so they plodded on to the next house.

Zeus rapped on the door, and purty soon it opened. He looked down at an itty bitty gal about five years old with her red hair in pig tails. She stood there barefooted in droopy drawers and she had her thumb in her mouth, workin’ it for all it was worth. Zeus said, “Hello little girl, is your Momma or Daddy home?” Unfortunately, old Zeus forgot he had a voice like thunder — and the sound of it almost rocked the house. The little girl’s eyes went wide and she popped that thumb out of her mouth and shrieked, “STRANGER DANGER!” She slammed that door right in old Zeus’ face.

That’s how it went. One after another the doors slammed shut in their faces. Zeus turned to his son and said, “These can’t be natural borned Texans … they don’t seem to understand Southern hospitality! Must be them folks that moved down here from up North.”

Just about then, Zeus spied Becky out in the yard of her rickety little house. She was bent over the iris bed, with her flowered skirt blowin’ in the breeze. Becky was a “healthy” old heifer (which is the nice way of sayin’ she was as big as a cow), but she was careful as she could be in her army boots as she gently stepped through her prized flowers.

Zeus cleared his throat to get her attention, and when Becky glanced up her leathery old face broke into a grin as big as Dallas. She hollered over her shoulder, “Phil! Honey! Get out here, ’cause we got ourselves some company.” Then, she hurried up to Zeus and his son and said, “Y’all look plumb tuckered out! I bet you’re parched too! Can I get y’all some sweet tea? My name is Becky, by the way. What are your names?”

Zeus said, “I’m … ummm … Bill and this is my son Bubba.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet y’all, Ummbill and Bubba” Becky exclaimed. “Let me dash in the house and rustle up sump’n for you to eat. Oh, there’s Phil. He’s my husband. We’ve been married for 58 years, and I still just love that old man to pieces.”

Phil had come around from the back of the house, wipin’ his dirty hands on his coveralls. He approached these strangers, took off his Acme Hog Feed gimme cap and stuck out his hand to Zeus.

“Phil, honey,” gushed Becky, “this here is Ummbill and his boy Bubba.”

“Howdy strangers!” said Phil. “Well, I guess you’re no stranger than most … but y’all are welcome here. My name is Phil. Y’all look like you could stand to rest up a spell. Let me show you to the washroom and you can get some of that road dust off of you. Then, I bet that my Becky will find sump’n for you to eat. Let’s get you inside so y’all can take a load off your feet.”

Zeus opened his mouth to speak, but those two old folks just wouldn’t let him get a word in edgewise. Becky and Phil ushered their two guests into their humble home. Phil helped the two men get situated in the big plaid sofa in the living room and Becky puttered around in the kitchen. She was warblin’ “I’ll Fly Away” while she put together some pimiento cheese and egg salad sandwiches (she didn’t put ‘em both on the same sandwich, silly gal) and poured big ole glasses of sweet tea for her guests.

“Here y’all go, Ummbill and Bubba,” said Becky. “This ain’t much, but I think it should satisfy you.”

Becky set the sandwiches, the sweet tea and a bowl of melon balls in from of her guests, and watched with a grin as they wolfed down the food. She kept their glasses refilled at all times. Phil chatted away with the men, telling them stories and old lame jokes.

Suddenly, Becky let out a little gasp. She held out the tea pitcher, and squeaked, “It’s still full! And look at that bowl of fruit! Y’all have been eatin’ and drinkin’ like it was going out of style, and it doesn’t look like you have even touched it! This is almost magical. This kind of thang only happens in stories!”

She examined Zeus with squinty eyes, “What did you say y’allses names were? I don’t think y’all are Umbill and Bubba at all! Who in Thunder are you??”

Zeus stood to his full height and said, “I’m Zeus and this is Hermes.”

“Oh. My. God!” cried Becky.

“That’s right,” replied Zeus.

“Phil, honey!” she cried. “Go kill the chicken so I can fry it up for these folks and make a decent meal. Hurry! These are gods before us!”

“No,” said Zeus. “There’s no need to kill the chicken. I want y’all to come with me. See, I’m real displeased with the rude way that people act around here. Y’all are the only people who were polite to strangers, so I’m gonna spare you. I’m gonna destroy the rest of this town, and turn your house into a temple, of sorts. Follow me.”

Zeus and Hermes led the way to the top of a nearby with Becky and Phil stumblin’ and scramblin’ along behind. When they turned around, Becky and Phil saw that their whole town was gone! Where their house had been there was a big ole industrial complex.

“I thought y’all were gonna build a temple,” said Becky.

“Depends on how you look at things,” Zeus shrugged. “Now, because y’all were so hospitable to us I’m gonna give you a wish. Name anything. It’s yours.”

Phil scratched his head and looked at Becky. “Well, we don’t really want to leave our home,” he said. “Could we stay here and sorta be the guardians of your …temple? And maybe … well, I don’t rightly know how to say this … could us two be together forever? I mean, we’ve been together all our lives, and I love this old gal. I don’t know how I’d live without her. I don’t think I could stand it if she were to … you know … pass before I do. If she goes, I wanna go with her.”

Becky sniffed as tears welled up in her eyes. She reached for a hankie in her bosom to dab her tears and mumbled, “Isn’t that the sweetest thang to say.”

“Technically,” said Zeus, “that’s two wishes, but I grant ‘em both. When it’s your time to go, I’ll turn you into oak trees.”

Zeus and Hermes went on their way that day because they had other fish to fry, leavin’ Becky and Phil to guard their industrial complex. Those two old souls lived happily and in peace for many long years.

One day, Phil hugged his wife to him and said, “Darlin’ I think we need to get you some fancy lotion, because your skin is dry. It feels like tree bark or sump’n. Hey wait a minute!”

Phil pulled back and looked at Becky. “Are you trying to act like them young kids? Your hair is turning green!”

“Yours is too” said Becky.

In that moment, them two realized that the end was at hand. They were slowly turnin’ into two oak trees! At the last minute, they reached out for a final hug, and then a canopy of leaves spread over them.

That’s the story behind them trees, Gal. You’re wonderin’ if there is a moral to the story, ain’t you? Well … lemme see. First off, I ain’t tellin’ you to let any old strangers into your house (that ain’t too wise in this day and age). But, remember that it don’t take any more effort to be polite than it takes to be rude. You never know who your are talkin’ to … you know what I mean?

And, second, I guess I’d just say that if you’ve found love, hold on to it for dear life, and remember that true love never dies. Your Mamaw would like it if I said that, wouldn’t she?

Guarding the temple.

No, my Papaw didn’t really tell me that story, but when I hear stories in my head they are told with his voice … and I hope you recognized it as an adaptation of “Baucis and Philemon.” I had to tell it Texas style. Props to Neil Gaiman who said that stories are how we tell ourselves things we might not see otherwise.