Was I anyone important in the Deku community? Not really, I was merely the son of the butler. The butler to the king.

I don’t even remember my mom, but I was brought up in the palace with strict rules and strict training. I didn’t mind it so much, learning how to carry a cup the right way, or how to help the king into his crown and the like, but it just seemed all very…empty.

Now when I was ten, I saved the princess from an Octorok. She started to like me more and we talked and had a lot of adventures together. But all of them were in firm view of my father or the king’s attendants. There wasn’t much to boast about.

But the things I learned from the adventures that my father and my teachers refused to tell me about! I learned how to fly with flowers, skip across ponds, and spin my leafy sprout around and stun enemies. It worked better when my tangled roots were bound behind my head, and with very satisfying results. I even came across some magic and studied about how Deku people like me could use it. A huge bubble was satisfying to see, and I loved hitting my teachers in the back of the neck whenever they assigned me too much work. They could never figure out how I did it, or if it was even me.

But though my adventures with the princess were all vey fine, there was one thing I enjoyed more then anything else: racing my dad. There is a shrine on the left side of the palace, and it was full of pathways and treacherous falls. It was the perfect place for me and my father to spend our time together. I would never win in my first few years of us doing this, but slowly, I became quicker and memorized the paths. Pretty soon, I was the one taking the longer routes and gathering the most rupees while winning and he was the one taking all the shortcuts. But no matter who won, we always celebrated by drinking Deku nut juice and talking over the times. I wouldn’t trade him for even the king as a father, or for our swamp, or to rule all of Woodfall.

But then, something strange started to happen. The princess and I were having a lot of fun with the Deku flowers, and I was teaching her how to float. The swamp started to change color, and it turned poisonous. For a while, we could just ignore it, even though getting to the shrine was dangerous and my father would always make sure I made it across the lily pads. Then Octoroks came, and then the Big Octos that blocked the way to the outside world. We just decided to leave the gates shut and not welcome any outsiders.

But I was adventurous. I decided I could go and stop the poison flow. So, I whittled a small sword from a Deku stick and made a Deku shield with the royal crest on it from a huge Deku nut. My father forbade me, and the king told me I was being foolish. But I stayed true to the idea. In the middle of the night, when the guards outside the palace gate were sleeping, I stole out to figure a way to stop the poison flow.

How I managed to fly over the Big Octo was a mystery, but I didn’t know the song to open our temple. So I decided to head to the big city called Clock Town.

The guards wouldn’t let me leave, because I was still a kid and didn’t have a proper weapon, and the Business Scrub wouldn’t let me use his flower to get over the walls. I slept next to the laundry pool for a few days, until the people started getting really fussy over the carnival. A man with a music box wouldn’t let me get to sleep while he practiced, so I sought refuge in the Clock Tower itself.

I was amazed by all detail in the pillars and the painting on the wall. But that’s when I wandered through a doorway into another place. There, I found a strange Skull Kid wearing a mask.

“So, you’re a Deku, huh?” he asked me. “Hee hee, well let’s make you an actual tree!”

He shook his mask, and I stood rooted to the spot. My sword fell while I was flying, so I could not defend myself.

I had become a tree. For nine days, I stood there, in my twisted shape. I wish I had never run off without telling my dad goodbye.
But after I lost all hope, I saw a fairy kid with my appearance coming my way. he looked at me, thinking I was nothing more than a twisted shape of a tree. But I whispered to him. “Please tell my father…” I don’t know if he heard me, but he did pause before moving on.

Three days later, I grieved for my fate, and cursed that imp. But then, I saw a candlelight and an umbrella. My dad had come for me!

He stopped and collapsed to his knees when he saw me, his eyes tearing up and his limbs shaking. “Oh, my son, my poor son!” he cried. “How could this have happened to you?”

His bitter tears came rolling down his cheeks, and he opened his umbrella once more. He promised he would come back for me. He promised he would find the Great Fairy to heal me. He told me that one day, we would race again, father and son, once more.