Page 29 -

Portraits and picnics happened beneath the mighty boughs. Proposals and parties. The
swing saw less frequent use as the children grew older and eventually moved away from
the home to pursue their own lives. The elm and swing waited patiently for the day that
one of them would return, they always had after all. And one day, years and years later,
one of them did. The youngest girl was given the house after their parent's passing as her
older siblings had already bought their own homes and started families in them far away.

The house no longer felt inviting or whole. She wandered the halls as though searching for
something which had been misplaced and couldn't be found again. It wasn't until she
stepped out onto the cool grass of the backyard that she understood where her feet had
been guiding her. There was nothing in the house that could possibly comfort her, not with
her parents so recently gone. But there was the tree, waiting as it always had for someone
to come sit beneath it once more.

She crossed the ground barefoot and barely felt the blades of grass tickling her skin as her
eyes fixed on the majestic elm. It was still neatly maintained and as the sun began to set,
she knew the lights would soon come on. Her parents had put them on a timer long ago so
they wouldn't have to think about it. A great exhalation left the woman and as she sat
cautiously on the swing, she suddenly felt like a child again. Her fingers wrapped around
the ropes covered in fake leaves and flowers and her heart pulsed abruptly, painful in her
chest.

The lights came on and she made a soundless sigh of content. Fireflies began to prick at
the darkness in the backyard and she watched them wondrously as they drifted aimlessly
about. The leaves of the tree glittered a deep emerald in the dark and she swallowed on a
dry throat as memories washed over her. She could see her father hanging the swing as if
it happened the day before, could see her mother bringing out a tray of lemonade with
laughter on her face.

A soft summer breeze lifted the hem of her white dress and pushed the swing ever-so-
slightly forwardly began to rock gently back and forth. The leaves of the tree whispered
against each other, and she felt some of the lowest ones brush the top of her head. It was
then that she understood. The tree which had played such a special role within her family
was comforting her. It never spoke a word and it didn't have to.

The ancient Camper down elm understood the girl's grief and provided solace in the way
its leaves swayed and touched her hair. It offered condolences through all the good
memories which had happened beneath the

canopy above. And it told her she would never be alone in the way the swing slowly arched
back and forth, back and forth. She wasn't aware of the fact that she had been crying but
there was a soft smile on her lips as she craned her neck to look at the aged tree. She
answered the signs, speaking her first words since returning to her childhood home.

“Hello Tree. I’ve missed you”

Amirah Musadique - 10S