Sarah And The Tree - Part I

“Yippee!!!” Anna was playing on the old cherry blossom tree which was now completely dried up. But Sarah stood there, staring at the old tree. “Hey! What’s the matter?” Asked Anna. “Wanna come play on this tree with me?” Sarah sighed. Anna continued swinging on the tree branch as Sarah didn't notice her do that. She widened her eyes and quickly pulled out a small bottle of water. She kneeled down and emptied the bottle near the roots of the tree.

Then five men came there. One of them was the leader. “HEYYYY! GET OUT OF HERE!” The leader shouted. “We want to cut this tree down.” All the children who were playing quickly got out of there. Anna too stood aside. But Sarah was still there. “Hey, didn’t you listen to us? We are cutting down this tree, so get out of here.” The leader said. “Why, oh why are you cutting this tree?” Sarah glared at the man. He shouted again at her. “Do as we say. OUT!” Tears rolled out of Sarah’s eyes as she left. When she looked back and ran towards the man. “You will have to pay for this one day! It’s so cruel to cut this tree!” Saying this, she frowned and walked away. Anna wondered why Sarah was being so weird. The men, too, were surprised and confused at the same time. They gave a funny look and went to do their work. “Bring the JCB and the cranes till the evening!” One of them said. “Sarah?” Anna said. “What’s the matter?” Sarah looked at her and ran away. Anna walked away, too, wondering why Sarah was so sad.

That evening, all the friends – Anna, Sarah, Abby and Della gathered near the tree. Abby said, “We are with this tree since childhood. I am going to miss it very much. Never mind... we are planting more trees, anyway.” Everyone agreed, except Sarah. No one noticed it. “Hey! Look there!” Said Della. “Oh, dear!” cried Anna. “The tree is burnt from this side. Such a big patch! It’s almost bigger than me.” Sarah stood silent among the chatting girls, staring at the burnt part. She started crying again. “What’s the matter?” Asked Anna. “Everything seems to be fine. Don’t worry... if you have some problem, tell us.” Sarah wiped away her tears. She looked up at her curious friends and looked back at the burnt patch. “Do you know?” She spoke. “This tree dried up because of me.” Everyone stared in disbelief. “How is it possible?” Della said.

Sarah said, “This had happened when I was a little girl. I was playing with some fireworks near the tree with my dad. I started running around. The firework in my hand fell out and the tree started burning. My dad quickly threw a bucket full of water, and the fire stopped.” She sighed. Everyone looked at each other. “It’s not because of you,” Abby said. “Ok!” Anna said. “Sarah, you don’t worry we promise to prevent the tree from cutting. This is our birthday gift for you, and your birthday is tomorrow. We will do it...” Sarah nodded. “The others looked at Anna. After they all decided to go home, Sarah left. The others stayed to discuss.

“How will we prevent the tree from cutting?” Della asked. “Remember,” Anna said. “They say, on the north island called Icecup, there is the tree of life. I think we should take the tree’s suggestion.” “Yess!” Everyone agreed. “But how do we reach Icecup within a day?” Della asked. “Don’t worry!” Abby jumped up. “If I tell my dad, we can go in his aeroplane, and we shall reach in an hour or two!” “YIPPPEEE!” Everyone went to their houses, tripping and skipping to get ready for their journey. After 30 minutes, everyone met at the park, except Abby. “Huh? Where is Abby?” Della blurted out. Then she came, running towards her friends, with her hands held up in the air. She looked very happy. “Haah!” She sighed. “You know, what! My mom and dad said that we can go to Icecup!!” “Woo-hoo!” Everyone jumped with glee. 

 

Hey everyone! Interested to know what’s happening next? HMM... But you will have to wait for the next part to come! Till then bye-bye! Keep reading and writing!