ᴘʀᴏᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ꜱᴇᴍʙʟᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛɪᴠɪᴛʏ

𝕊𝕖𝕒 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝔼𝕪𝕖𝕤

This was when I had to write a short story based on a poem. The poem I chose was Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost. We had to take a theme from the poem and feature it in the story. I chose 'Nature'. This is actually one of my more favourite short stories.

It was during a summer that I saw the boy. The farmer's wife was finally let out of her chambers to enjoy the gentle breeze. She sat below me and I stood tall, shielding her from the wrath of the sun's glare. The wife pulled out a bundle of clothing and I remember thinking why she would carry around a pile of unseeingly cloth, then I saw the lump of flesh that people called their face. It was the first time I saw such a thing. I remember wondering what exactly it was, then I overhead the farmer's wife cooing all over it, calling them a darling babe.

Babe.

It was a foreign word to me. It was then when I realised that it must be what they called their saplings. Upon such the revelation I looked back down at them. Daniel, they called him. He opened his eyes, and I saw his irises for the first time, the same green that won't ever change through the seasons. He looked up at me and, not sure where to stare at. My hair, my torso, my fingers. His gaze soon settled upon the one flower I managed to maintain from spring. And he smiled, his innocence so pure, his face so beautiful.

Two winters later, and Daniel's mother was bringing him outside, all bundled with hats, gloves, scarves and coats. His nose, beautifully blushed as it sat exposed to the cold. He slowly bent down and grabbed as much snow as he could carry into his little hands, looking at it as if it was the world itself. Then he threw it at me, and I thank God every day for the thick skin he gave me as I heard the melodious laugh that came out of the little one's laugh.

A few springs later, little Danny, as I had heard the farmer and his wife have come to call to him, ran around on his own chasing a butterfly. His limbs were longer than before his chestnut brown hair wilder. He changed as the seasons go by, but those green eyes remained the same. Their unlike the green I see from myself or my brethren. The birds that come by once in a while told me that it's like a special type of green, like that of the sea, a place that smells of salt. But to me, it didn't matter, as his eyes held the same wonder and light as it did all those seasons ago. I danced in joy when he came closer, my flowers falling all over him. He laughed, and I smiled.

A couple autumns later and little Danny grew again, but I couldn't find it in myself to care, for his seas green eyes remained the same, in all its wonderous glory. That day he was quiet as he read a book at my feet, me doing my duty and protecting him from harsher winds, and the sun's fading glare. He sat there quietly, the only noise being the, soft voices of the odd bird, the crunch of our shed hair, and the whistle of the breeze. He sat there absorbing the words of the page, in his own little world, oblivious to the farmer's wife calling for him, from the cabin in the distance. He sat there, enjoying a peace and serenity, for from then on, it was the last time I saw my Danny happy.

The last time I saw him was the next summer, when he walked past with what I was told was a suitcase. I watched as he held the suitcase tight to his chest, as he walked rather quickly away. Away from the farmer and his wife, away from the memories of his childhood, running free, and away from me. It was the last time I ever saw the sea green of Daniel.

Seasons came and went, I shed and regrew my hair. It was a cycle, going around and around and around. But I didn't mind for it was the way of nature and life. All I wanted was to see the sea green eyes. The eyes bursting with fascination for the world, always looking for the next place to run to.

It was too many seasons, longer than I wanted it to be when I saw a person, I have never met before. From where I was standing, she was standing in what they called a skirt and jacket, her chestnut brown hair falling to just above her waist. She faced the farmer and his wife, I wondered what they were talking about, for it had to have been serious if she was fiddling her fingers all nervous. After their discussion though, the farmer's wife smiled and hugged the person, the farmer himself just watching them. The wife said something to them as the person and the farmer soon walked towards me, inching their way closer and closer to me.

She walked softly, her head down as farmer and new person strolled, side by side. They stopped at my shade and the farmer looked up at me.

"Remember how you used to run around the grass here, staying within the shade to escape the sunlight?"

"Of course, I remember. My happier memories were always by this one tree."

The person pointed at me and the farmer let out a reluctant smile. She looked up at me and I stared back meeting her sea green eyes.

The farmer opened his mouth and said, "Welcome home, Delilah."