The Tree

Dawn and Peter O'Neil raise their four children in a rambling house on the edge of a small country town, beside a towering Moreton Bay Fig tree. The tree serves as the kids' playground and the centerpiece of the home, shaping routine and memory. The scene feels idyllic, masking the looming trouble that tragedy will soon bring.

Peter suffers a heart attack and crashes his car into the tree trunk. Dawn is left devastated, suddenly responsible for four children and a home without him. The accident shatters their sense of safety and pushes the tree from background to focal point of grief.

Eight-year-old Simone tells Dawn that she hears her father whispering through the leaves, and that he has come back to protect them. Dawn is surprised but finds comfort in the belief, allowing the tale to soften her grief. The tree becomes a guardian figure, blending memory and fantasy.

Dawn begins spending time in the tree herself, drawn by Simone's imagination and the sense of protection it offers. The tree's presence starts to dominate both physical space and emotional life, changing how the family interacts at home. Their world gradually orbits the leaves and creaking branches.

Roots grow deeper and branches intrude into rooms, gradually undermining the house's foundations. The once-endearing landmark now appears as a growing force that reshapes daily life. The family becomes increasingly bound to the tree and its unsettling power.

George, a plumber, is called to remove the tree's troublesome roots. The practical task threatens the symbolic lifeline the family has come to lean on. The encounter marks the first real collision between the rational world and their grieving mythos.

As work begins, Dawn's bond with George deepens, and a romantic spark arises despite the memory of Peter. Simone and Dawn view the situation with suspicion and fear that the tree's fate could sever their fragile unity. The narrative turns on the tension between healing love and reverence for the tree.

Simone climbs the tree to defend it, refusing to come down despite Dawn and George's pleas. Her eight-year-old resolve foregrounds the conflict between faith in the tree and the adults' insistence on practical removal. The family begins to fracture as a result.

Dawn grows frustrated with the claim that Simone is just a child and can’t stop a necessary removal, cancels the operation, and tells George she does not want to see him again. The decision marks a breaking point, severing any chance of a simple restoration of the old life. The tree remains a stubborn symbol at the center of their lives.

In a big storm, the tree's power tears the house apart, leaving the family with nothing but the memory of what they lost. Realizing the danger of staying, they abandon the area and begin planning to live elsewhere, perhaps in a tent. The Teviotville Tree's grip ends with the loss of their home.

With the house gone, the family contemplates starting anew away from the town's outskirts. They consider living in a tent as a temporary solution while they rebuild their lives and memories, carrying the memory of the tree as part of their past. The story closes on their tentative departure, ready for a new chapter.