Many, many years ago there were two lovers who lived happily in a home they built in the woods. They had found a bright, little clearing in the trees, not far from a small town. Together they raised up the walls, cut out windows, and tended to the wildflowers that grew there. Unbeknownst to them, they had laid their foundation atop the roots of a very old maple tree that grew high above the roof of their house.

The maple tree was insulted at their intrusion and constantly wreaked havoc on the couple that lived below it. It dropped its old branches, covered their paths with its leaves, and tripped them with its roots. 

Besides the headaches caused by the maple tree, the couple loved the area of woods they had found. They refused to move their house, for they had worked so hard to build it. They became light-footed to avoid the roots and made a routine of brushing away leaves and carrying the branches inside to feed their fire. They finally felt that their little life together was perfect. 

One day, a cool wind swept through the woods, and the clouds began dusting the earth with snow. The lovers had left their home to gather dry sticks to throw in their fire, disappearing together into the trees before the snow could pile up too much. The maple tree took the opportunity to cover their path with leaves, obscuring the terrain, leaving it unrecognizable to the couple. The two tried to backtrack their way home, but could find no landmarks with the rising snow. 

Lost in a storm that grew more dangerous with every harsh gust of wind, the couple clung to each other while trying to navigate their way back to the path. Sharp flakes of snow and ice blinded them and cut through their clothes. 

Hand-in-hand, the lovers found their way inside an old, hollowed-out tree. With their hands and feet frozen, and little hope left in them, they tried to wait out the storm. 

Night came and went, the snow never letting up. One of the lovers found they were losing focus. They had stopped shivering and began to feel a sweet warmth wrap around them. The other saw those weak eyes begin to flutter shut. They grabbed their shoulders, begging them to stay awake. The body in their arms slumped and was limp and lifeless, but not before their mouth opened wide, a yawn before falling asleep forever. A tear slid down their cheek, a goodbye to their partner who laid them down on the cold ground. 

The one left behind slowly succumbed to the cold, laying down beside their true love. They gripped the hand of the one they hoped to see on the other side. They yawned as drowsiness overcame them. Their eyes, locked with the dead ones, welled with tears and shut, preparing for eternal sleep. 

The grief of one losing their lover, the feeling that their heart had been ripped from their chest, was so strongly felt that the whole world, for a moment, paused. People of every country could sense the anguish and felt the urge to yawn, unexplainably making their eyes fill with tears. 

Now every night, when exhaustion creeps up and leaves someone yawning, the people around them will unknowingly follow suit in honor of the lovers that couldn't live without one another. They yawn, and their eyes tear up without knowing that it's for the lovers that lost their way in the woods, bodies frozen and forgotten in the heart of a hollow tree.