Wishtree

Morning arrives with a light sprinkle. The ground around Red is peculiarly muddy. A lone elderly man is the first to tie his wish to one of Red’s branches. Then, a car drives by and its passenger lobs raw eggs at Red’s trunk before driving away. The skunk, opossum, and raccoon families arrive to survey the damage (and to eat the raw eggs).

Stephen emerges from his home to survey Red. He’s upset by the cracked eggshells that he finds on her trunk. Samar joins him. He apologizes to Samar about the cruelty of the stranger, but Samar hushes him, because she only wishes to discuss Red’s unnatural actions during the previous night. The children both confirm with each other that they did not, indeed, dream the entire scenario. Samar makes Stephen promise to never tell anyone what they heard, as others would surely dismiss them as crazy. Then they proceed to school together, under Stephen’s father’s watchful and displeased eye. Samar’s mother also emerges, and sees Stephen’s father. The two parents watch the children wordlessly.