A Special Day with Patrick

This is a short story I would like to share with everyone from a very talented writer. Approach this story with a open mind understanding this is from a child's point of view and the ending is open ended to stimulated the reader to create there own ending. Read, enjoy and share. Peace

A Special Day with Patrick

My name is Patrick, I am ten years old. This is the year 2099, and I have a story to tell about my summer vacation. My parents have always told me stories about wildlife and plants and how they used to be everywhere when my grandparents were my age. Now there is no sign of wildlife outside of a museum or a man made garden.

My parents took me to one of these gardens for the first time this summer. We went to the only garden in our state and the only garden with a tree. I have never seen a tree before, so I was really excited when my parents told me we were going.

It was finally Saturday; I got out of bed and woke my parents before running to get dressed, even though it was still dark. Mom got up next so she started breakfast. I had to wake my dad again but he finally rolled out of bed too.

After breakfast, the three of us packed a lunch and some snacks for the trip since it would be an all day trip. They said it would take the entire day to drive there, see everything in the garden and to drive back home.

We climb into our old electric car and started off just as the sun was completing its rise from the horizon.
As we approached the garden I could see the top of the tree looming over everything else. It was humongous! We paid our fare and entered the garden through a chain link fence that surrounded the whole area. I could then see the rest of the tree in the center of the garden.

Dad wanted to walk around and see the other displays, so Mom came with me to the tree which was surrounded by another chain linked fence to protect it. There was a plaque posted on the fence that covered a lot of space, Mom started to read it while I stared up at the great height of the tree. The plaque told a story of how the trees all became extinct, and how this particular oak tree was salvaged at the construction site five years before. This was the biggest tree seen in over a decade because all the old trees were torn down to make way for highways, buildings or sidewalks.

As I listened to Mom read the plaque I saw something fall from one of the branches. A small round object hit the ground and rolled to the fence just inches away from where I was standing. I got Mom’s attention and pointed it out; she smiled and said it was an acorn where the seeds come from to make more trees. She went back to the plaque and read aloud how the garden attendants collect the acorns to plant for new trees, in the hope that the trees can thrive again.



I stood and looked at the acorn for a minute, and then ideas come to me. I looked around carefully to make sure no one was watching, and then I quickly stooped down reaching through the fence and grabbed the acorn. I stuffed the smooth brown acorn into my pocket before anyone could see it, then I walked with Mom around the garden for the rest of the day.

After we arrived home and Mom and Dad went to bed. I took the acorn from my pocket and studied it, turning it over and over in my palm. Finally, I could not keep my eyes open anymore, so I placed the acorn on the table next to my bed and feel asleep, dreaming about the next day when I would plant the acorn in our backyard where it would grow to be a tree. Just in time for a new century.

MG Lindsey