The Lonely Avocado
The author is a Registered Nurse, Teacher II in English and has worked as an Operations Manager in a BPO company for 7 years.
They poke me with toothpicks
Put me on a glass with my butt on the water
That’s when I noticed,
I was beside a window sill
My roots started to grow.
A few days went by and something grew on my head
I think… it’s me.
A few weeks went by and I got my first taste of soil
They put me on a garden, but why?
A few months went by and I’m starting to grow
I had my first leaves and branches
I can see in the distance, the other trees are growing
They are so big
They are so tall
They have birds flying in them
They have grasses growing at their roots.
There are no birds for me.
There is no grass at my roots.
But there are plants lined in rows all around me.
A few years passed by
The plants around me have come and gone: come and gone!
Finally, I can see the avocado trees like me
But they are so far away
I feel happy
I feel excited
I am growing my first fruits
The farmer came and took my first fruits
I still have no birds
I still have no tire swing
I still have no little house in me
And I am 12 feet tall!
No one to comfort me from the lost of my first fruits
I still have no grass at my roots.
The Elm tree beside me looks so sick
He did not grow any leaves this spring.
And something is wrong with the Oak tree
He is nourished by water but he looks so dry
One day, the farmer came
Cut the Oak tree down
And so is the Elm tree
I felt so sad
They were my closest neighbors.
The children have grown and moved away
I grow my fruits for the farmer and his wife
For their thanks, I get fertilizers and fresh soil
They would not give me grass.
I am big
I am tall
I have lots of branches
I have lots of shade but still no birds
Why don’t they come?
Why don’t they play around me?
The Elm tree is gone
The Oak tree too
But still, no birds linger around me
Why is it like that still?
I’m getting old
My fruits are but once a year now
But I grow them as big as I can
I still have no birds
I still have no grass
A fence still surrounds me.
The farmer and his wife have moved away
The plants around me no longer grow
The grass is growing towards me
But still the birds stay away.
My fence has lost its color
It is starting to fall apart
The house looks empty
And the tractor has not been started.
Months go by…
Years go by…
Seasons come and go
My fruits have fallen on the soil
The fence standing no more
I have birds living on my branches
I have caterpillars turning to butterflies on my leaves
Annoying ants crawl up my trunk
Grasses are getting closer but still so far away
Maybe, it’s the wild weeds growing around me.
The house has lost its paint
I can no longer see the tractor
I miss the farmer and his wife.
What’s this?
A dust trail coming up the road
Could it be the farmer and his wife?
No…
It is the farmer’s son and his wife.
The house looks new again
Field is getting cleaner
Grew a few fruits
The farmer’s son collects them
He has cut the grass further away from me
I hear babies crying in the house.
The day came
The farmer’s son approaches
Holding a chainsaw
Am I going to be like the Oak and Elm tree?
Oh no!
He cuts away some of my branches
Ouch!
Ouch!
Ouch!!!
It hurts
He’s planted grass around my roots
Sprayed me with medicine
Cough!
Cough!
Cough!!!
The bugs are going away
No more butterflies too
No more birds on my branches
I am alone again.
The babies have grown into kids
And the farmer’s son has given me a tire swing
I have a new fence now but it’s far away
The farmer’s son built me a house
Fresh soil
Grass friends
Children play around me
Sometimes sleep in my house
I still give fruits once a year
I will be here many more years.
© 2018 Ronadel Razon
