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