The Girl in the Trees

            For the first five years of my life I lived with my parents in the city. I don’t remember anything those first years but who does. When I had to start school my mother had me relocate with my grandparents because the schools seemed better where they lived. When I left with my grandparents I shed bitter tears, I didn’t want to leave. When I got to my grandparents’ house I became astonished. The whole land appeared green, the number of trees appeared infinite and the area around the house seemed to go on forever. The forest seemed filled with secrets waiting for someone to discover. I couldn’t wait to go out and explore!

I spent most of my time in the adventurous woods. After school, I would do my homework and then I went straight outside to the trees. The trees felt like another home to me, I couldn’t stand being away from them. I would climb the tallest trees and I would look out and see the long rows of corn, the mooing cows, and the acres of trees that lay beyond that. I lived in the trees with other creatures that took shelter there. I loved to watch the insects crawl up the trunks and the oozing syrup flow down the bark.  I was no longer a city girl but a country girl.

            When you live in the country the way you feel is different. The country makes you want to remain as close to nature as possible. I would breathe the air and smell the sweetness of the pine trees, the fresh dirt and sometimes the cow manure. When I climbed into the trees I would lean up against the trunk put my legs on a branch and listen. I would hear the birds sing to each other, the deer moving in the grass, and sometimes I wouldn’t hear anything at all, it would be completely silent. There are no words to fully describe what it feels like to live in the trees you have to experience it for yourself. I wasn’t aware how close I felt to nature until the day I was longer close to it.

            Before fifth grade I move back to the city. I like it in the beginning but I soon realized that I could no longer go out with my trees. Behind the apartment that I lived in viewed a small forest. Polluted with garbage, the woodland still made me want to be close with its mysteries. My parents didn’t want me outside they thought I would get kidnapped by some stranger. I missed the outdoors and I became depressed. I missed the silence that came with the trees, the fresh air, and the fact that I could be completely alone and content.

 I still live in the city and I still miss the trees but I know I’ll go back to them someday. The trees are my home and home is where the heart is.