And so the story goes.

It was not long after the pilot returned to his home, that Douglas found a spot in the pilot's back yard that he could call his new home. It was here that, for the first time in his life, he was not afraid to grow. This planet was much larger than the asteroid, and Douglas growing would not break the planet apart. And grow he did. With his strength he kicked his roots into the lush soil, and stretched his limbs as far up and out as he could. He grew and grew, and from his spot in the back yard, he watched the pilot go about his life. He enjoyed the times that the pilot would come and rest at his base, and he stretched out as much as he could to always make sure the pilot had shade. He did what he could to try and make the pilot happy, because Douglas often saw him sad. He tried to care for the pilot as best he could for a tree. He wanted to be selfless, rather than selfish like the rose. He tried to pay attention to everything around him, rather than inwardly like the geographer.

Years came and went. Douglas grew and grew, and never stopped learning, or thinking about the little prince and everything he learned on his adventure through the universe. Douglas never realized how much a part of the little princes life he would stay.

Until, one morning, Douglas was cut down.

He was sad as he was hauled away from the place he called his home for so long. They - the people that cut him down -took him to a mill, and ground him up. They mixed him, pressed him, heated him, and pressed him again. They did so much to him that in the end, he didn't resemble anything like the grand tree he used to be. He was now, instead, like white leaves, easily blown away in a breeze. It was as these leaves that Douglas remained, and was packaged up. A short time later, this package found its way back to the pilot, but instead of being put in his backyard, they were instead put on his desk.

Then, one morning, the pilot sat down at his desk. He opened up the package, and took a thin piece of Douglas from the stack. He grabbed a pen, dipped it in ink, and began to write of his adventures. He wrote about elephants and snakes. He wrote about things of consequence. He wrote about flying. He wrote about the day he crashed. And upon the leaves of Douglas, he wrote all about the little prince.

And so it was that Douglas became the keeper of the little prince's story. Written on leaves, it is a book. It is a very special book. It is so special, that if you haven't read it, I suggest you read it.