Once, there were two trees. One at each end of the river named Sanktum. Two very special trees indeed, said to have been planted very long ago by a young man who fell madly in love with the daughter of a fisherman. It is said that he planted the trees in the secret places the fisherman's daughter would sit each day when she went out to catch their meals, so that one day when the trees had grown tall and their relationship had proven to last, he could sit with her under their shade. But alas, soon after the young man had succeeded in courting the fisherman's daughter and planting the saplings, the daughter of the fisherman started show the telltale signs of the malaise. Every night, after spending the whole day beside the daughter of the fisherman's bed, the young man would walk to each end of the river Sanktum and care for the trees. At the east end of the river, alone on a large clearing at the top of a waterfall, the young man had planted a thick sapling with dark brown wood and the most majestic and golden leaves that shone more brilliantly than even the highest rulers crown. He had named the tree 'Un', after himself.

At the west end of the river, Un had planted a thin and twisting sapling that resembled a willow tree in a densely forested patch, with bone white wood that sparkled like the stars in the night sky and with leaves like teardrops of mercury. This tree he had named 'Ame', after the daughter of the fisherman. Ame would wither at the hands of the malaise, day after day, and day after day Un made his journey to tend to each of the trees, but on the 100th day of Ame's struggle, the malaise had claimed her in her sleep. For days Un wept beside her bed, up until the very day of her burial at the river Sanktum. She was set onto the river by her only remaining family, her father, on a single wooden plank. At seeing this, Un could handle his grief no longer and without looking, he jumped into the river after Ame. There was thrashing in the water and screaming from the fisherman for a second, and then the lone body of Ame floated back to the top of the river while Un was nowhere to be seen. The body of Ame floated downstream out of sight,  eventually past the silver willow bearing her name and out past into lands uncharted.

Un however, was never seen again after he had jumped into the river. The villagers searched for days downstream, but his body was never found. At least not until the old fisherman, having heard of the trees many years later, found the skeleton of Un underneath the still growing tree of gold, upstream from where he had fallen in.

The old village near the river Sanktum was since lost to time and never rediscovered, having been grown over by forestation. The old folk tale of Un and Ame was well known to all of the people living in a farm village named Lureburg, near where the lost river supposedly flowed.  Some children and lofty explorers still dream of one day discovering the two trees and bringing back a leaf of pure gold and a leaf of wet silver to show that they were masters of their trade. It was in this same village where an old woodworker resided. Alone in a warm windmill on a hill overlooking his field with his sheep. He was a widower who carved intricate wooden toys in his free time to pass on to his grand children, if they ever visited, and to the children of the town when he goes to buy food for himself and his sheep. He was a kind and gentle old man, scrawny and balding but with a pure smile on his face at all times. Although, this gentle grandfather kept a secret.

When he and his now passed wife had first started falling for each other, they often roamed the forests inland near Lureburg for hours on end, lost in each others smiles and laughter. It was on one of these fanciful journeys that they had gotten lost and separated. Seeing that the sun had started to set, he had at the time deduced that since Lureburg lay on the coast he would be able to follow the sound of the shushing waves and light of the villages lanterns to find his way back home. And so he did, although the shushing and lights did not lead him to Lureburg. As he stepped further and further into the green undergrowth of the forest, calling for his beloved and pacing towards the noise of water crashing ever louder and a warm golden light growing ever brighter, did the old man pass into a clearing at the top of a waterfall where a single, radiant tree had rooted. Teetering over the edge of a far drop into a pool of water below, sitting beside a mesmerizingly blue river, was the golden tree of Un. Its glorious dark wood seemed to glow with pride and its leaves reflected every bit of forest around it on their pure golden surfaces. The tree gave a faint glow, but a glow nonetheless. Tearing his eyes away from the mythical sight, he noticed that the sun had fully set and he decided to make the radiant tree his shelter for the night. 

In the morning, only when there was enough light to see by, did the man reluctantly set off back into the forest from the tree Un. It was not long before he stumbled onto a carriage road and made his way safely back to Lureburg, where his very upset betrothed was waiting for him. From then on they both stayed clear of the woods, knowing what could happen now if they weren't careful.

Of course, this is the story he was very fond of telling to every willing ear. 

"Hey old man Valinor! See any glowing trees on your walk here? Haha!" Said a child, playing with a ball in the road.

"Good morning Valinor. I have your usual request ready, prime sirloin. Smoked with the wood of a golden tree if you'd believe it!" Said the butcher, placing a well cut slab of meat on the clean and polished  wooden counter.

"This sheep wool is damn near perfect! What have you been feeding those things Valinor? Golden leaves? Come on, I need to know!" Said one of his regular buyers, rubbing the snow white wool between his fingers.

"It was real, I swear it on my name. If only I could have cut off a piece to bring with me! That would quiet you all down." Valinor told them all, smiling like an old friend at each of them.

And suddenly, old Valinor had an epiphany.

The following day, with supplies he had bought and packed the day before, Valinor set off once again into the woods behind small Lureburg. He walked on and on through the musty undergrowth of the forest, searching for the light and sound once again. Once, he rested next to a small stream overshadowed by large oak trees above, laid out his tablecloth on the ground and enjoyed the sandwich he had prepared. Marmalade and garlic, just the way he liked it. The dribbling of the stream, the chirping of the birds, the rustling of the leaves, it was making old Valinor somewhat emotional. All he could think of was the beauty of his dearly missed beloved on all of their trips into the woods. Over a moss covered boulder, under an archway of stone, past the largest tree that he had seen in all of his 80 years on earth. The sounds of Lureburg slowly faded the further he went inwards. At each landmark he passed, he placed a small wooden arrow that he had carved the day before, pointing in the direction he had come. Eventually, the sun started to set, his supplies started to run dry and his legs started to ache, but his determination only grew. Past a gravestone, through a hollowed out tree, into a dark cave. Immediately out of the dark cave after a bat flew into his head, ruining his hair. Later, after the sun had now fully set and Valinor was using a lantern for light, he tripped over a heavyset, covered root and twisted his ankle off of it and smashing his nose on the ground. With teary eyes, he felt around for his lantern, but when he found it, he realized that his fall had smashed it in two. Dismayed and unable to walk, old Valinor felt that his time had finally come. So he sat in silence on the floor of the forest, clutching at his ankle and bandaging his nose. 

While he rummaged in his backpack for some extra wood with which to splint his ankle, he realized that he could now see more of the forest than he could a couple of minutes ago. In fact, he could hear a faint noise nearby of running water. Valinor, now very excited, splinted his ankle as best he could and used a nearby branch for support as he hobbled around, looking desperately with a smile on his face for the source of the light. The further he hopped in one direction, the brighter the cool light became. But as he made his way around a large and thick oak tree, his excitement turned cold, and then to bewilderment.

Valinor had stumbled upon a large, twisty willow like tree, with long, silver, gleaming leaves and a mirror-like reflective trunk hanging over a small stream. The roots seemed to pass through the ground, like a ghost would, and the stream was speckled with little spots of silver. If the night sky could feel, it would blush at the sight. Old Valinor, had stumbled by accident upon the silver tree of Ame. Bewildered and astonished, Valinor hobbled closer to the tree, and collapsed at its base, his legs exhausted from the journey. He rolled onto his back and took in the sight, smells and sounds and could only imagine what the townsfolk would think if he told them he had now found BOTH trees. He chuckled at the thought. Looking up at the leaves, he noticed millions of reflections of himself on their silver surfaces. The air smelled wet and cool, refreshing him after his long trek through the woods. The ground near the tree was dry and cool and covered in pleasant grass that did not itch. The dribbling sounds of the stream calmed him, like a mother saying a lullaby to her child. He could feel the pain from his nose and ankle slowly fade away as his mind was soothed. Laying at the base of the tree, Valinor noticed how the roots seemed to have grown around a patch of grass to form almost a cushion. Taking advantage of this, he crawled into the circular patch of grass, and immediately felt drowsiness take hold of him. It was like laying in the lap of a caring mother, or in the arms of a dearly beloved. He felt warm and safe. His pain seemed nonexistent and, for the first time in months, he drifted into sleep without a care in the world.