I wasn’t born rich. I came from very humble beginnings. What u see of me today is a far cry from what I was back then.

I was born in the wild, not very far from this city. When I opened my eyes for the first time, I was amazed to see beauty all around me. I was surrounded by beautiful creatures, just like me. We enjoyed the sun, swayed in the breeze, danced in the rain and had fun all day long. Those still remain the best days of my life.

Soon enough I realized that though we all started the same, we all grew at different rates. And before I knew it, I was towering over most of my buddies. That’s when a wise old tree told me that I was a tree and was meant to grow strong and tall. When I was in my teens, I recognized the difference between rich and poor. Right on the edge of the fields was a mango orchard. And I noticed how lovingly the human-being there watered and fed the plants. On the other hand, I had to take care of my self. I felt very sad. That year was also a very difficult one. We barely had any rains and I felt my arms and legs grow weak. I just wanted to lay on the ground and close my eyes, but something inside me told me to not to give up. And I didn’t. Soon the rains came and I could gather some strength.

I willed myself to dig deeper into the earth and soon I found myself tasting the sweet water. I gulped it all in and felt life itself rush through me. I felt alive again. I soon grew stronger and more resilient, and became one of the most handsome trees. I felt proud but also a bit jealous of the pampered mango trees.

One day, a human came up to me. He looked at me with longing eyes. A few days later, he returned with a huge machine. I was terrified. I thought he was going to kill me. As the machine came near, I closed my eyes and started praying. I felt the earth beneath my feet move. I readied myself for death. But instead I found myself being gently scooped off the earth and being carried to a truck.

Next thing I knew that we were zipping off into the city. I arrived at a beautiful house. The human told me that this was going to be my new home. I felt really happy. I was pampered by his entire family. The entire house revolved around me. I watched his kids grow in my care and have lived my life peacefully since.

// This piece has been penned by 9-year-old Ishara Pravin Sambandam as a part of a writing task given during our regular creative writing classes //