My Childhood Friend

The trees whistled in the dead of night. I lay in bed, surrounded by darkness, just staring up at
what could only have been the ceiling. I listened to the rustling leaves from the large oak right
outside my window. For so long I had been afraid of that tree, its branches created large shadows
that danced across my wall and had always terrified me as a child. I insisted on my window
being shut for so long, in case my fears became a reality and the branches suddenly had life
breathed into them.

But now. Now that tree was going to be cut down. It had grown to be a danger to the house if it
ever fell down. Something I could never have imagined happening. After years of being scared, I
had finally grown accustomed to the sounds of the wind sweeping through the big tree. The
dancing shadows on my wall no longer seemed frightening, but as if they were putting on a show
just for me. I couldn’t imagine what nights would be like when the tree was gone.

I watched the next morning as workers began setting up their equipment, getting ready to chop
down my old friend. I only peered outside every now and then, as if I was saying repeated
goodbyes to the tree. I didn’t want to watch the full procedure of it getting cut down, I couldn’t. I
knew I would come to the realization that the tree was gone that night when I had no rusting
leaves or dancing shadows to put me to sleep, I didn’t need to watch the painful process of
sawing off each branch to remind me of what was going on.

That night, as I lay in bed, staring up at my ceiling as I often had, it felt disturbingly quiet. There
was no soothing sound of leaves outside my open window, there were no mesmerizing shadows
sprawled across my wall, there was nothing to suggest that a tree had ever been outside my
window.

The Dazzling Dock

It was summer, a time of glorious sun and stunning flowers. It was also the perfect time to go on
vacation. It was only for a week that I would be gone, but I was looking forward to every minute
of it. I would be staying at a nice house with an open view of a large pond, and practically
deserted roads that would be perfect for taking long walks on.

One of the most exciting places for me was the dock that lead out a few feet into the pond. It was
in the perfect place, where the sun would hit it most of the day and a person could lay out there
for hours, surrounded by the croaking of frogs and buzzing of dragonfly wings. It was perfect.

The first day I was at this house, after unpacking, of course, I headed right out to the dock. I had
to see if it was as glorious as it had seemed in the photos, or if it had been too good to be true.
I sat down on the wooden boards and looked out at the water. There were tons of lilypads, some
with beautiful white flowers on them. The visible water was sparkling from the sun, creating an
effect that looked as if it was edited.

There were little water bugs skipping around the top of the water, and dragonflies were chasing
each other through the air. One of them, tired of its constant flying, perched on the dock. It
stayed there, for several minutes, just enjoying the sun with me. I watched as it got ready to take
off again, flying off the dock and catching up with its friends.

A smile spread across my face as I tilted my head up towards the sky and closed my eyes, letting
the sun flood onto my skin. Little bursts of wind would start and stop, and I would hear the
sounds of cattails and grass that surrounded the edges of the pond rattle against each other.

It felt like the perfect day, sitting here and taking in all the beauties of this small bit of land. I
was excited to explore the rest of the property and look for other spots that had this level of
beauty.