The oak wasn’t always lonely, but after the goblins moved in the other trees picked up their roots and walked away. 

They didn’t go far, of course; a tree is weighed down by its hundreds of years, and after more than a couple of yards they had to stop and rest. Their roots settled back into the soil with a sigh, and the oak stood alone, its branches zigging and zagging across the empty air just far enough from the beeches and elms around it that no goblin could jump the space. Trees will ...