I found a place today where the trees stand at attention and grow in rows straight and tall.

None daring to outgrow or out pace the others, they stand in a line, evenly spaced, claiming equal amounts of the sun, reaching for equal parts of the sky.

They live behind a wooden fence.

Contained and kept in check by those who came before them. Those no longer free to grow, but determined to maintain control.

One tree however, realized there was more space in the center; out of the confines of the straight and narrow.

It broke the line, expanded its view, reached out to the other side, grew a little bit bigger than those who surround it, claimed a space in the middle, and thrived.