The old Sycamore Tree

Chapter 1 The beginning of the end 

She had made a poor job of hiding the damage. What would father say? He had planted the sycamore about 3 months ago. It was only up to her hip. It was still a sapling. It would take about 3 more months to get to this height again. Why had she been so careless? She had been running around with the old family dog and ran straight into the sapling trampling it over. What was she to do? If father was to find out she was surely going to get punished. Since there is no tree, I guess they can’t use the switch on me this time she thought to herself trying to make light of the situation she had put herself in. Suddenly it came to her. She could just replant the tree. Why hadn’t she thought of this before? Instead of standing there like a knucklehead she ran to the nearest nursery. She had been saving up for a xylophone play set, but she supposed that she can put it off. With her 15 cents she gave to the nursery nurse she ran home with the sycamore sapling. Her home wasn’t too far from the nursery, but it was a hot summer day and the humidity had set in. She saw some cars pass but never had the luxury of riding in one before. Her family was too poor to own a vehicle. Her parents were farmers, and she would be a farmer when the time would come and so would her own children. As she came into the gates of her family's farm. She saw with relief that the sapling was still untouched. She knew that her mother kept fertilizer in the shed for her garden so to the shed she went. The bag was kind of heavy and she felt as if her bones would snap as she dragged it through the grass. She emptied the whole bag onto the ground. She grabbed the sapling out of her overall pocket. She dug a little hole feeling the cool dirt on her hands. She covered the sapling very carefully trying not to bury it and poured some water onto it. She knew that if father found out that she used to much water she would go to bed without supper. She looked at all she had done, and she was very proud of herself she was only 10 years old but already a very sufficient farmer. Money and water were very hard to come upon now, but she knew father wouldn’t stay mad for too long. He loved his daughter way too much to be mad at how she did wrong but somehow did good and fixed it. She decided to go get her father and show him how well she had done. “Oh, father guess what” the little girl yelled. She saw a shadow and turned around she saw her father. “H-how long have you been standing their father.” she asked a little startled. “Oh, darling don’t you worry I’m proud of you. Look what you did you planted this all by yourself.” He praised his daughter as he picked her up and gave her a hug that made all the little girls worries disappear just as how she felt as a child. “Come on Margaret lets go inside” he said carrying his daughter inside the house.  

Chapter 2 The many years that followed. 

60 years later the great depression had passed and yet again the world had new problems to worry about. The farm that Margaret had lived on got torn down and was made into a park. The construction workers decided to leave the beautiful sycamore tree since of how big it was and how much shade the tree had to offer. For a young man named Liam nothing could bring him down right now. He was having the time of his life. Just a few days ago he had got married to his high school sweetheart. He had got that dream job he had worked so hard for and has dreamed about since he was a little boy. Liam had always had a hard time in life since he was little, he has had issues with bullies. Ever since he met Aria all his worries had gone away. Aria was his everything and she had shown him that he could live his life and never live it in fear or sadness ever again. As he drove home, he thought about all of this and how lucky he was. Liam felt his light brown hair go into his eyes and for a moment he was blinded. Isn’t that all it takes though? Just one second and your whole life can be turned upside down. As he brushed his hair out of his eye, he didn’t see the car swerve into his lane coming from the other direction. They collided straight on. For a second everything went slow. Is this it he thought? This isn’t fair I have so much to live for. Not always is life fair though. As Aria was brushing though her hair waiting for her husband to get home, so she can tell him the amazing news. She was pregnant with their child, and it was the best news she had could ever imagine hearing. She felt the brush combing through her silky straight hair but suddenly she felt a pain in her heart. Not sure what it was she shook it off and told herself it was probably the chili she had eaten for lunch. She felt the strange feeling that something was off. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. She ran to it thinking it was Liam and prepared herself to launch into his arms as soon as she opened the door. Instead of seeing her tall husband she saw a short man and a pudgy woman. She thought nothing of it and assumed it was her neighbors. As soon as she opened the door she knew. The short man and the pudgy woman were in police uniforms. They had a grim look in their eyes. As soon as the man asked if that Liam Coleman was her husband, she knew something horrible had happened. “What's going on?” she asks with a quiver in her voice. The man stepped in and tried to say something, but the woman intervened. “Your husband he’s been in an accident.” the woman. announced. It was at that moment when it felt like time froze. She felt as if her whole world was coming down and there was nothing, she could do about it. She felt a heavy pain in her chest and then she realized it was her heart and it was breaking. She couldn’t believe it her one true love was gone. She pushed past the officers as the officers were trying to keep her calm and ran. She ran as fast as she has ever run. She ran to the park where the old sycamore tree was planted 60 years ago, and she cried and cried till she couldn't cry anymore. She felt comfort as if the sycamore tree was holding her. She felt that maybe she could make it. Maybe she would survive. It was going to take time but maybe she would survive. She would live on his memory their baby would live on in Liam’s memory. She suddenly realized that maybe she would never have to be alone again.  

Chapter 3 Dreams  

As the dream faded, she tried to remember every bit of it. She was in a meadow with beautiful poppies surrounding her. She saw a tall sycamore tree and that’s when she woke up. She was alone in the house, and it was already 12 pm. She decided to take a walk and get some fresh air. She got a text from her boyfriend, and he was asking for her to meet him at the park. Knowing Axel, he probably wants to spend time together which was fine with me. She had been with him since middle school and now they were in college. She felt the warm sun hit her skin and it felt amazing. As she walked to the park, she had been to many times before she noticed that the sycamore tree was like the one in her dream. She saw Axel and he waved to her. She felt his warmth as he embraced her. They talked for a long time, and she saw the love in his eyes. She knew that this was the guy she wanted to grow old with. As it was time to go, they said their goodbyes. Little did she know this was the place that Axel would propose to her. 

Chapter 4 Leaving home 

As he flicked through the letters, a small, handwritten envelope caught his attention, and his heart began to thump. It was a letter from Harvard. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He fumbled with the letter. He opened it and it was an acceptance letter. His mom came into the room and screamed. “Oh, my goodness jasper you made it!” She started crying. She could have never been prouder of her son in her life. He wanted to leave his hometown, but he wanted to go to a special place first. He went to the park where he first decided he was going to straighten his life out. Back then he was a bad kid. He used to run away and do other bad things that made his mom disappointed but now, now he could make her proud. That sycamore tree made him change his whole life around and now he wanted to say his final goodbyes. As he touched the tree, he felt the rough bark. He was sad that he was leaving home but maybe this is the new beginning of it all. His life was just beginning, and it was all thanks to this old sycamore tree.