Theme: Destruction Law

The backyard tree

Marcelo lived in a house that had a spacious backyard, where he liked to play.

There was a very large tree in the backyard. Marcelo usually climbs on it and sits at the top. From there, he watched closely the birds and their nests, saw other animals, admired the beauty of the leaves, and felt the coolness of the shadow of the great treetop.

He loved taking books and comics to read upstairs and he could also see the entire backyard and the street beyond the wall.

When it was time to go down, Marcelo would hang from a lower branch and swing himself before jumping and landing on his feet in the grass.

Since he was little Marcelo played on the tree. He had moved into that house with his family when he was still a baby. And the tree was already there.

One day, as he always did, Marcelo hung on the branch to climb down from the tree, but when he forced himself to start swinging, suddenly the branch broke, and Marcelo fell.

Fortunately, he didn't get hurt. But he got scared. And he was sad to see the branch overturned.

Marcelo told his parents what had happened and asked:

– Please, Daddy, can you fix the branch soon? The best way to get down from the tree is by it.

His father explained that he would need to call a tree specialist to see what had happened to it.

Marcelo didn't care. He thought he would just have to wait a few days for everything to settle down. But that's not exactly what happened.

The specialist came and said that the branch broke because the tree was damaged by a disease and had several rotten branches. On his recommendation, the branches of the tree had to be cut. They couldn't resist a stronger wind and could fall on top of the house or cause an accident and even hurt Marcelo.

The day they cut down the tree, the boy even cried. He understood the need for them to do this, but he couldn't help the sadness of not having his tree anymore.

With the tree cut down, Marcelo almost never went to the backyard. The days went by and he had to find other things to do. He then started playing with his neighbors on the street or at their house. He also sometimes called a friend to come to his house.

Marcelo, who used to spend a lot of time alone, changed his way of being. He started to enjoy living with the boys and made many friends.

It was nice and peaceful to be up in the tree reading or observing nature. But Marcelo found that spending time with friends was also good. He learned new games and had a lot of laughs with them. And he had so much fun that it was often nighttime and he didn't want to stop playing.

One day, after doing his homework, Marcelo got up from the table and went to the backyard to walk a little. He remembered the tree stump and went to see it. It was then that he got a big surprise. Two green branches had sprouted from the sides of the cut stump. The tree had not died.

Marcelo was very happy. He was facing the renewal of life. One phase had ended, but another was emerging.

He stood there thinking for a few minutes. He loved his tree, but if it were still there, he wouldn't have had the other opportunities he happened to have.

Moved, he remembered how good it was to climb the tree and felt gratitude for her. But he understood that now he and the tree were in a new phase, renewed. He realized that this was a good thing and the sadness he still felt from the cut branches was gone.

Marcelo went into the house and went to tell his mother about the tree sprouts.

- Good, son. She will grow up healthy now - said the mother.

- Yes! - Marcelo agreed, smiling.

His heart was in peace.


Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com