My Leafless Friend | Teen Ink

My Leafless Friend

September 11, 2010
By antiqueartist4life BRONZE, Fresh Meadows, New York
antiqueartist4life BRONZE, Fresh Meadows, New York
2 articles 4 photos 6 comments

Hi. My name’s Beverly. I’m twelve years old, and in seventh grade. But that’s not the point. Now that I have your attention, I’m going to get to the point. The point is my hair. My hair is a vibrant orange-crimson color, with a couple of wood-brown strands here and there. Well, it was. Until it fell out.

I wasn’t expecting it-the disease, I mean. It was on a brilliant summer day that all this happened. I was scared to look in the mirror on that day. I didn’t want to see what was there, looking back at me. I wanted to see what wasn’t there. I wanted to see my orange-crimson hair, with its wood-brown strands. It just wasn’t fair. Why should I be doomed to have a disease that only plagues a few? Why should those few be doomed to have this disease? Why did we have to stand out in a crowd, and for the wrong reasons? And most importantly, why couldn’t anyone answer my questions?

What was really eating me up inside was the fact that all I could do was sit around and do, well, nothing. All I could do was hang in there and hope for the best. The most frustrating thing about all of this though, was the fact that I didn’t have anyone I could relate to. I was alone in all of this. Every day, I’d pray to G-d that maybe, just maybe, I’d find someone who I could relate to(not that I wanted someone to be like me just so I’d have a friend, but rather that someone was already out there that I could talk to).



By this time summer was over, and fall had begun. At this point, the seasons were the last thing I cared about. All I cared about was finding a friend. One afternoon I was really bored, and decided to take a walk. I don’t normally take walks. It’s just not my thing. But on that autumn day, I felt like taking a walk and seeing what was going on in the world I hid myself from. At ten o’ clock on a Sunday afternoon, I put on my coat, put a hat over my bald head, and went outside. The air was crisp and pleasant. Just what I’d expect on a typical autumn day. I walked for a couple of minutes, taking in the scenery. But then I stopped. I was suddenly jealous of something I was looking at- an evergreen tree. Who would’ve thought that I’d be jealous of an inanimate object? But I just couldn’t help myself. I was envious of the tree’s beautiful leaves that dangled from its branches. I was jealous that a tree could hold on to its leaves, but I couldn’t hold on to my hair. I was so upset at that tree. It was as if it were secretly mocking me or something. I was getting really annoyed, so I started walking home.



But then I saw something that seemed rather odd. I saw a bald tree. A tree with no leaves to be exact. I stared at this tree for a minute or two. Then I looked at the ground, which I noticed was covered with leaves. I picked up a leaf and examined its orange-crimson coat and dry wood-brown veins going in all different directions through the leaf. Now I understood what had taken place here. The tree lost its leaves, just like I had lost my hair. I knew that this was a gift from G-d. I’d asked for a friend, someone I could relate to. And that’s exactly what I got. Sure my new friend couldn’t talk or do what any other friend could do, but I could relate to this new friend, which was the most important thing for me.



So anyways, my point is that on that day I found a friend. A friend I’d visit every afternoon for years to come. By early spring, my friend got her leaves back. That gave me hope that one day, I’d get mine back too.


The author's comments:
My reason for writing this is simple. I dream that people who read this piece of fiction will gain hope when struggling through tough times.

Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.