On a hot and sunny summer day all the kids on the block were out and about playing

basketball, drawing on sidewalks with various bright colored sized chalk, jumping rope,

eating half way melted popsicles, racing and conversing with one another. In the front yard

of our three bedroom duplex stood a tall oak tree who’s two long branches hugged the roof

of the house. A tree that nobody ever touched. A tree that nobody ever thought about touching.

Except for me.

    “Why doesn’t anybody like this tree? It’s just a tree.”

     My thoughts wondered about what lived in the tree or why nobody ever played close to the

tree. Then my thoughts ran onto how I could maybe climb into the tree or maybe even build a

treehouse in it. Although, some of my thoughts were unrealistic and wild that didn’t stop me

from imagining.

     Later on in the evening, when it started to get dark and cool most kids headed in since the

street lights were starting to flicker and pop on in different parts of the street. This was a

“curfew” for everyone. More like a way of all the parents telling their kids to come in

without having to go get them themselves. If you weren’t in the house by the time the street

lights came on then you would have to answer to a worried mother with a belt waiting on

you like a snake would wait to attack a innocent mice running through a prairie.

    Being rebellious like usual, my older sister, N’Dea and I wanted a few extra minutes of play,

so we continued to do our own thing. Disregarding the looks on our playmates faces as they

made their way into their houses we stood in the front yard anxiously waiting on our mother to

come outside. Being the sneaky child that I once was, a smirk formed on my face as a light bulb

went off above my head like in the movies. I finally had the courage to do what had been

pondering in my mind for so long.

   “How about I climb to the top of the tree and jump?”, I said to N.Dea.

My sister laughed and shrugged as if she already knew what was going to happen to me if I

decided to do it.

   “Do what you want I won’t tell.”

    I ran towards the tree and attempted to claw at the already peeling bark which seemed nearly

impossible to get a grip on. I pulled and pulled and pulled until I could latch onto one of the 

branches. At this point I’m already a couple of feet off of the ground, which is a lot for a 4’0

seven year old. Thinking I could climb higher my foot slipped.

   Falling in slow motion is what I remember enduring right before landing between the split in

the tree, one leg stuck out of each side of the tree. Just to my luck I had on shorts and felt an

army of ants that seemed to come out of no where, run up the side of my leg. Not to mention I

didn’t even get to the part of my plan where I leap from the tree. It seems as if as soon as I fell

into the death chamber my sister transformed into an Olympic sprinter.

    Soon after she dashed into the house, my mother came out the house with an amused face.

With the help of my mom and older brother tugging on my small body for about ten minutes

straight and me pleading for them to just leave me there, I was free. As expected I stayed in

the house for the remainder of the summer which was only for about two weeks. Surprisingly, I

wasn’t the only one who stared out the window watching everybody play with envy. My best

pal N’Dea was sitting right there with me with a look of defeat. I was happy as long as

I got to say that I was the only kid in the neighborhood who wasn’t afraid of “the tree.” Even if

that meant I had the irritating ant bites all up and down my leg followed by Mickey Mouse band

aids on my elbows and ankles. I still had the feeling of joy and accomplishment.

  Moral of the story, even if you don’t trust your older sister when she gives you her word on not

ratting you out while you climb into forbidden trees, climb into it anyways.