The Lone Nerd

Chapter 4 - My Tree

After eating dinner with mum and debating the likeliness Boss Josh someday not being a pain in the ass (we ended on about 1 percentage of likeliness), I retreated back into my room and climbed out onto the old tree branch with my book and music playing softly in the background.

Mum knew how important that tree was and being the totally awesome mum she is she was completely fine with me being up there as long as there was a mattress underneath the tree to cushion my fall if I fell.

The old mattress was covered with leaves as I had never fell and I had decorated the tree with fairy lights. There was little nooks and crannies all around the tree and the inside was hollow so I stored pillows, food, blankets and whatever else I wanted in there. I put a little hatch in the top of the tree which I would close and sit on top of, it had conveniently placed branches behind it like a back rest and a circle like indent on one of the branches where I would always put my cup of tea. I had umbrellas with the sticks cut off which I could fix to the branches above me easily, I even had some plastic blanket things which I could drape over the branches to create a tent. It was abnormally comfortable and homely and one of the reasons I forbade mum to sell the house after I left home.

I would spend hours at a time up there, I would read, sing,  and just watch the world around me, thoughtfully. Sometimes, I even fell asleep up there, I would try to avoid it though because it had lead to many days having to get a lift to school with mum in a mad rush because I had overslept without my alarm.

Only my mum knew about it and I trusted her totally to not let anyone know about it. It was my happiest place, my safe haven, my little corner of the world and I loved it.