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''Spring.''
It's dark, and warm. The earth holds me tight as I begin to crack open, absorbing the comforting moisture surrounding me.
[[Summer.|Summer 1]]''Summer.''
I breach the surface of the warm earth to see the blinding light above, and the girl. The girl visits me every day, showering and refreshing me. The woman reprimands her and the girl visits and showers me less, but she always returns. The woman lies beside me and reads to the girl. I reach out to touch her, getting closer every day, but am never quite able to.
[[Autumn.|Autumn 1]]''Autumn.''
The winds grow stronger, threatening to break me. The woman places a shield around me, protecting me from the gusts. The girl still visits me and refreshes me, with less enthusiasm than before. Often it is the woman who visits me instead.
[[Winter.|Winter 1]]''Winter.''
The cold air makes it hard to feel. The woman visits me every so often, but less than before. The girl comes even less so, and when she does, she is disinterested.
[[Spring.|Spring 2]]''Spring.''
The girl returns to me, visiting often with the woman. I grow taller each day, as does the girl. I thicken, and my arms start to show. The girl is pleased.
[[Summer.|Summer 2]]''Summer.''
The girl sits near me and reads. She waters me, and watches me. My arms burst out at my shoulders. They're short, but reach farther every day. I begin to green, small scales budding from my tips. She is excited by this, fetching the woman to see. I reach toward the sun, trying to catch it.
The girls brings many others and they all run and laugh. One boy picks at my burgeoning arms, and snaps one off. I bleed, and the girl shoves the boy to the earth. The boy is reprimanded, and the girl cries. The woman comforts her.
[[Autumn.|Autumn 2]]''Autumn.''
I resist the winds, stronger than before, but the woman still shields me. The girl visits often. She watches over me and makes sure I stay refreshed. My scales glisten with the nourishment she provides me. I extend deeper into the earth below. It feels good to stretch out.
[[Winter.|Winter 2]]''Winter.''
No one visits me for a long time, until the woman does again to refresh me. The snow grips me on all sides, my top whipping in the chill breeze. I clutch tightly to my green scales, but cannot hold onto them. Their loss is painful, in the moment, and long after.
[[Spring.|Spring 3]]''Spring.''
The girl returns to me. She is taller than before. My scales begin to return. My arms extend and multiply, until I am wider than the girl. The girl is happy.
[[Summer.|Summer 3]]''Summer.''
I reach for the sky, outstretching my arms as they flourish with leaves. The girl visits and reads beside me. She wears a bow she never did before.
[[Autumn.|Autumn 3]]''Autumn.''
The girl visits me each day. She attentively observes my growth, tenderly tracing my arms and length. She reads beside me, some days just me and her, other days with the woman. The girl grows taller still, but I surpass her. The green in my scales fades, until they fall away.
[[Winter.|Winter 3]]''Winter.''
The ice threatens to consume me, but the girl takes it away. She still visits, but a little less often. I am barren, but the girl still tends to me.
[[Spring.|Spring 4]]''Spring.''
The girl visits me, and brings a few others. She speaks of me with pride. The others are polite, but are less interested. They read and speak beside me for hours. They run and chase one another throughout the grass, and roll down the hill on their sides. My leaves blossom.
[[Summer.|Summer 4]]''Summer.''
My leaves grow larger, lapping up the sunlight above and moisture the girl provides. The others visit even more frequently with the girl. They tell secrets beside me, play games, read quietly, and fall asleep. The woman watches them from afar.
[[Autumn.|Autumn 4]]''Autumn.''
My roots thicken and grow deeper and farther, stronger. The winds return, but I stand my ground against them. The woman and the girl cut some of my arms off, intentionally and precisely. The girl apologizes every time she clamps down on her device to snap one of my arms cleanly off of me. It hurts, but I withstand it. I lose my leaves as the air grows colder, but I am unperturbed.
[[Winter.|Winter 4]]''Winter.''
The girl doesn't visit for a time, but I remain faithful that she will return. And eventually, she always does.
[[Spring.|Spring 5]]''Spring.''
The cold falls away, and I bloom again. My arms are strong and wide-reaching, and I confidently loom over the girl when she visits me. My leaves return in greater abundance than ever before, and the girl is proud. She visits me most days before the sun sets.
[[Summer.|Summer 5]]''Summer.''
My blossoms begin to bear small bundles of candy. The girl and the woman are pleased. The girl takes one from me and tries to eat it, but finds it sour. The woman tells her to be patient.
The girl returns with the others. They are all taller than the last time I saw them. They settle into a familiar routine, talking, reading, resting beside me. Sometimes they fight. But they always return together.
[[Autumn.|Autumn 5]]''Autumn.''
The girl visits me less often, but still cares for me. Sometimes she sits beside me with the others, sometimes with the woman, and sometimes alone. She reads, writes, and sometimes cries.
[[Winter.|Winter 5]]''Winter.''
The woman cares for me as the days grow cold and my leaves fall away again.
[[Spring.|Spring 6]]''Spring.''
The woman and the girl trim my arms, but now I hardly mind. My stems regrow into leaves faster and stronger than before, and my blossoms are ever larger. The girl leans her head against me when she's thinking, tapping her pencil against her chin when she's trying to write. I'm able to withstand her weight, and welcome it.
[[Summer.|Summer 6]]''Summer.''
The girl grows far taller far faster than before, as do the others she brings. My candy blossoms larger and redder than before, and the girl is elated. The girl, the woman, and the others all pick my fruits and eat them heartily. The woman takes the girl and the others into their home, and I can smell the aroma of my fruits as they're baked into something the girl enjoys. The girl and the others lay beside me and read, share their thoughts, and fall asleep leaning against my bark. The others help the girl care for me. Sometimes they care for me instead of the girl.
[[Autumn.|Autumn 6]]''Autumn.''
The woman and the girl fight sometimes. The girl runs to sit beside me, curling up with her back against me, her toes digging into the grass below. Sometimes she cries, sometimes she says mean things, sometimes she just reads. The woman sometimes keeps her distance, and sometimes she follows the girl to me. Sometimes she holds the girl and tells her it's alright, and sometimes the girl runs away and the woman is left alone with me.
[[Winter.|Winter 6]]''Winter.''
The woman and the girl alternate caring for me. They speak rarely.
[[Spring.|Spring 7]]''Spring.''
The girl comes to read beside me, and sometimes the woman follows and sits on the opposite side, reading her own book. The girl asks the woman to leave, but the woman refuses, saying that the girl won't even notice she's there. Sometimes the girl leaves, and sometimes she stays and quietly reads alongside the woman. Sometimes the woman will ask the girl a question about what she's reading. Sometimes the girl remains quiet, and sometimes answers. I grow taller, and thicker.
[[Summer.|Summer 7]]''Summer.''
The girl returns with the others, minus one. They are sad for a time, but eventually their happy conversations reappear. They discuss what they're reading, how they're feeling, and enjoy my fruits.
[[Autumn.|Autumn 7]]''Autumn.''
The woman helps the girl with her writings beside me. The woman tries to make the girl laugh, and sometimes succeeds.
[[Winter.|Winter 7]]''Winter.''
The days grow longer and darker. The girl visits a little less often. Sometimes one of the others comes in her stead to refresh me.
[[Spring.|Spring 8]]''Spring.''
The sun shines beautifully overhead. The girl and the others take care of me and speak beside me. Sometimes the girl and the woman fight, but they seem to make up rather quickly.
[[Summer.|Summer 8]]''Summer.''
I have grown tall and wide. My fruits fall to the ground under their own weight. The girl visits with the others, and then she visits with a boy. The boy and the girl sit beside me and speak, hold each other close, and kiss. Not long after the girl cries beside me, and the boy is nowhere to be found.
[[Autumn.|Autumn 8]]''Autumn.''
The girl works diligently beside me, reading and writing more than she ever did before. The woman brings her things to eat and drink. Sometimes the girl says thank you, and sometimes the girl doesn't notice until after the woman has left.
[[Winter.|Winter 8]]''Winter.''
The snow and ice bombards me, but I resist, and remain. The girl hardly visits me.
[[Spring.|Spring 9]]''Spring.''
I continue growing, the girl caring for me, reading, and writing. The others visit sometimes, but they seem to grow bored.
[[Summer.|Summer 9]]''Summer.''
The others coordinate with the woman to surprise the girl. Many more others are present. The girl is surprised, and enjoys the music, food, and conversation they brought to me. The girl meets a new boy among all the new others. This boy joins the others with the girl, along with some other boys the others bring as well. The woman builds a table beside me where they sit, speak, eat, joke, hold each other close, and kiss. Some of the boys stay, others leave. The boy who sits by the girl remains.
[[Autumn.|Autumn 9]]''Autumn.''
The woman and the girl form a picture on the table beside me. They trim my arms, tend to me. The others read, write, eat, and listen to a box on the table. The boy and the girl grow closer. They read together, speak intimately, and sometimes undress.
[[Winter.|Winter 9]]''Winter.''
The girl, the boy, and the others attack each other with clumps of snow. They seem to enjoy it, strangely. My limbs shiver in the icy breeze, but I remain stalwart.
[[Spring.|Spring 10]]''Spring.''
The woman hangs a thin bed of fabric between my branches. The girl sits in it, swaying gently. The boy does not visit, but the girl seems unbothered, reading quietly in the net cradled in my arms.
[[Summer.|Summer 10]]''Summer.''
The boy returns, and the girl is happy. They read and speak to one another, and eat the fruit I bear. A few of the others visit sometimes, but less often. The woman tends to them.
[[Autumn.|Autumn 10]]''Autumn.''
The boy carves an emblem into my chest. It hurts, but the girl seems to like it, so I bear through the pain. My leaves darken and fall, but my roots grow ever stronger.
The woman talks to the girl beside me. The woman holds her close and cries. The woman tells the girl that she's proud of her. The girl shies away from the woman's affection, but gives in happily.
[[Winter.|Winter 10]]''Winter.''
The air is still. The snows falls gently, covering my branches in white powder. The girl is so tall. She's as tall as the woman now.
[[Spring.|Spring 11]]''Spring.''
The boy and the girl fight. The girl says horrible things to the boy, and the boy storms away from her and from me. The girl climbs into my branches and cries. The woman brings her food, but gives her space to be alone with me.
The woman prepares a bevy of food on the table beside me, and hangs a poster between my branches. Most of the others, and many more all join her and the girl at my side. They eat and laugh and celebrate. When all the others leave, the girl stays by my side, and falls asleep, gently swaying in the soft net held between my arms. The woman brings her a blanket, and leaves her be.
[[Summer.|Summer 11]]''Summer.''
The girl and two of the others meet at my side. They reminisce, eat my fruit together, and say goodbye.
[[Autumn.|Autumn 11]][[Autumn.]]
The sun shines overhead, but its light is filtered out by the clouds. The woman speaks to the girl at the table beside me. The girl is taller than the woman now. She speaks sadly, and holds the girl close. They both cry. She says she'll miss her, and the girl says that she needs to get going. The girl walks away from the woman, and from me. She goes to meet one of the others, and helps her with some bags. The woman stays at my side as the girl disappears from view.
The girl's face was the first I saw. And no matter how many seasons would pass, I would never forget her.
''THE END''Double-click this passage to edit it.