[ WP ] You stumble upon an enormous tree and something makes you realise it is Yggdrasil , the world tree

`` They want to cut down my tree to build a hotel!'' 
 
 An old man was yelling in the middle of the street, waving a couple pamphlets printed on cheap paper. 
 
 I ca n't tell you why, and it does not make me proud to say it, but seeing him like that, a lone dark figure in the middle of the footwalk, behaving as if unaware of the pouring rain although his hat and long dark coat, and even his beard were soaked by now, yelling his frustrations and sorrows, the world passing him by, as if his existence had so little importance he might've been invisible... all that made the warm cafe I was sitting warmer, the food better, the server's smile more beautiful. 
 
 I watched him for hours, finally deciding to approach him when the cafe closed down at 11. 
 
 In his fist the papers were almost disintegrated, useless. His eyes met mine and for a moment I was almost afraid, horrified even. This was n't one of the normal fears grown-ups have, like the market crashing, the investors ditching us, no, this was a fear I had n't felt since childhood, when the monsters under the bad scared me every night. 
 
 It passed as if it never was. The old man smiled at me like we knew each other all our lives. 
 
 He told me some fabulous story about Yggdrasil, Norse mythology and 
 the end of the world. 
 
 I followed him to the nearby Central Park, further and further from the noise of the still busy streets, until we reached an area I was extremely familiar with. 
 
 `` Here it is!'' 
 
 The majestic Yggdrasil. Almost a twig with a couple leaves, spurting out of the ground near a garbage can. A subtle fragrance of pee and wet garbage hang over the place and I struggled to breathe through my mouth. 
 
 `` This tree is the axis mundi.'' 
 
 I looked with suspicion at the old man. Then at the tree. I reached for my wallet, planning to give him some money, then leave. I was feeling generous, he showed me a good time after all, even if he was n't aware of it. 
 
 `` It's a symbol. You did n't really expect a gigantic tree that somehow managed to pass unnoticed in the middle of the world's most populated city, did you?'' he said before I had time to give him the cash and go. 
 
 `` Well...'' 
 
 `` It would be much easier for me, do n't you think?'' 
 
 `` Of course,'' I nodded. 
 
 `` That was a show I held only for your benefit. I knew you would be there. I knew you would watch me. I know you're responsible for this project. I know you will help me.'' 
 
 `` Really.'' I was n't afraid of an old man. 
 
 `` I am old, but I'm no man. I'm a nom. I took care of Yggdrasil since...'' he sighed `` a long time ago.'' 
 
 Delusional. 
 
 `` I'm not crazy. I'm doing this for the good of mankind. If the tree goes, so will you. I ca n't do it like in the old days. People are not afraid of the right things anymore. There's no more respect for the sacred. I need help.'' 
 
 I was still trying to come up with an explanation to the fact that he seemed to read my mind, when he reached his hand and touched me for the first time. A string of vivid images hit me with the power of a sledgehammer. Glass shattering, the whole world in ruins, blood, water, darkness. 
 
 I had no umbrella, and I was getting colder and wetter by the minute, but as I was walking towards my car it was n't the rain or the cold making me shiver; it was the pair of eyes watching me from the shadows. 
 
 
 -- -- -- 
 
 -017 
 
 old man was inspired by this comment /u/loukaspetourkas made 
 
 > Although I have respect for Elder Paisios, I do n't think this is right, we have freedom of speech for a reason. And this is likely what he would n't have wanted. To a monk, things like this slide like water on a duck's back. But from the opponents stand point, I do n't think they find the FSM offensive because it's not a parody of a recently deceased and respected figure.
