When the intense sensations finally eased up, Derrick was blind, deaf, and dumb. Yet he was fully of his surroundings. The warm sunlight and gentle breeze was transmitted through the countless leaves that covered the huge mass of his branches. He could sense the nutrients and moisture in the soil through roots that extended deep into the ground. There were creatures on and in him - birds nested in branches, squirrels made homes in hollows of his trunk, and insects burrowed into his trunk.
He was sure he should be terrified, but the strongest emotion he felt was confusion. How could he 'remember' two centuries of being like this, the seasons, the storms, slowly growing to tower over all of the other trees around him? Memories of his human life were still there, as were thoughts of moving, of running, of sight and sound the way he had always known it before. Yet being rooted to this spot, sensing the world in a totally different way, all of it just felt... normal.
The sun was already going down. He could feel the warmth fading, sense the lessening of light. So soon? So quick! It seemed like sunset took only minutes, and he dimly realized the activities around and in him were accelerated. The creatures around him existed in a different time frame, their lives a blur to his awareness. He felt.. relaxed. Not sleepy - that would come in the winter, when his leaves fell and sap slowed. That was a 'memory' that was both strange and comforting. But... Derrick struggled against the contentment that drifted over his awareness. He did not want to spend the rest of his life as a tree, even if he lived hundreds of years more. Or maybe he did. Thoughts were confused, as were his memories. What was he concerned about? What was concern? As the sun rose and basked his leaves with renewed light, Derrick drifted slowly into a state of contented awareness, happy to exist.