The Mississippi Tree(John Templeton) (Note that the author was 17 years old when he wrote this story.)


I see it now in my mind; the branches hang down upon the grassy hills of Mississippi. The sun shines down on it like light in a child's eye. It has a smell about it, one that makes you warm inside. You feel like when you walk near it nature revolves itself around it.

I remember as a young child walking to it. Propping myself up on one of the branches, and just sitting and thinking about life and the wisdom behind it. Trying to understand all the matters of this small town in this complex world that surrounded me. It made it all so much easier; it didn't matter if the problem was small or large somehow, some way, that tree at that time helped me. I ran my fingers down the trunk, and felt how it has aged; just like me. It's funny how such a small object in nature plays such a large role in your life.

Today now, I lay here in the hospital bed with tubes sticking out of every part of me, and I imagine I am back in that place. I am running through the grass and the sun is shining down on me; I am young, and I have no worries. I long to sit on that tree, and feel life for everything it has to offer.

I close my eyes, and now I say good-bye to this place. A place that has given me love and heartbreak through a lifetime. Memories serve their purpose, and I feel no regrets toward the place I am leaving; in fact, I am peaceful. All the places I have been, and the people I have seen, I still will remember the tree.

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