Sunday 20 September 2009

Those Trees


Book Extract

I lay in my bed facing the window looking out at the tall, slender elm trees that lined the edge of the lawn. They swayed almost uniformly from side to side, only occasionally losing their rhythm when the breeze changed direction.


They stood tall.
Too tall.


A line of at least ten trees dividing the lawn from the meadow beyond.
Like soldiers standing to attention in a show of uniformity.


I worried about those trees.


What if the breeze turned into a wind and the wind grew into a hurricane?


What if the hurricane increased so wildly and strong it bent the trees in half or forced them to swoop so low they couldn’t spring back into position again? Like an over-stretched elastic band would they eventually snap and crash to the ground?


They were so lean and towered above the other trees - so magnificently flexible, majestic - but were they safe?


Could I trust them not to snap and break, as they creaked and strained agonisingly in the wind?


What if they bowed too low – over-powering me, crushing and suffocating me as I played in the meadow directly behind them?


Lying quietly,
 anxious in my bed,
 I imagined I could hear them whispering to each other as they swayed to and fro and from side to side.



Extract from "Acceptance"
Written by Jan Cain

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