by Onnie H. (7th Grade)

The willow tree in the park near school rotted. It was cut down yesterday chunk by chunk by chunk. So, after school, many of us kids who could make it held a memorial for the tree. The first thing we did was hold hands standing around the stump. We took turns saying nice memories about the tree. 

“I remember how when we were little, we would gather the leaves from the vines to make ‘salads’, ‘smoothies’, and ‘medicine’”, I started sadly. 

“I remember when Joseph climbed into the tree and used it as a throne. He was our king and we made him willow whip crowns. Then we played kingdoms and whips were our money!” Ana added despairingly.

Slowly but surely, all of our memories came out. We then picked up sticks and dug a hole in which we buried a plastic bag of letters we had written to the old tree. After the bag was covered in dirt, we surrounded the stump with stones. The ceremony done, we searched in the remains of the tree for small bits of wood or bark to keep as mementos of the tree. It was a sad, sad day.