The tree and the children

A Story by Zoe

It's a short story I wrote for a competition and now it's here.

The Tree and the Children

1953

Pablo and Espanola built a tree house. They made it out of spare bits of timber lying around in their Dad's shed, and were very proud when it was done. Pablo used a length of rope to pull up a cupboard, and they played for five years.

1969

Pablo grew up and had a child, Sarah. She and her friend Lucy fixed up the house, and ate little cakes and muffins. Sometimes, when Sarah was by herself, she read about ballet or played jack stones. She played for four years.

1985

For a long time, there were no children. Then a rich man had two boys. James and Henry rebuilt the tree house and added a lookout up the top. They played games about pirates, soldiers and space rangers. They played for six years.

2011

The tree sighed. It had not seen children for over ten years. The tree home lay in ruins and nobody lived at the house. The tree had given up hope. A car pulled into the driveway. A girl of about five or six hopped out.

The leaves rustled quietly.

The tree house was repaired.

The world was green again.