Within Grasp

The rising sun pierced through the darkness, sharp rays spreading to light the beautiful park gardens. The blooming flowers, a colourful feast of blue and gold, lavender and pink, spread their petals for the new day, and the birds in the oak trees gently awoke to the beautiful sunrise, joining the butterflies and bees in their playful antics. 1

A young teenager stirred, eyes fluttering as they rebelled against the bright light. He yawned widely and groaned as he rolled away from the back of the wooden bench. Never again would he consider spending the night on a slatted park seat. In fact, he was sure that sleeping on the bumpy stick covered ground under the trees would be more comfortable and leave him with a lesser ache in....nearly every muscle, actually, he realised dejectedly. His eyes slid closed, the fireworks of his imagination playing and exploding on the dark curtain of his eyelids.2

He opened his eyes again, grudgingly, squinting slightly as he looked into the bright mix of colours in the sky – a messy painters easel fallen from heaven. Navy merged into a dark purple velvet way up near the clouds, and that in turn gently rolled into a striking pink, reminding the boy of a little girl's room. Pink and purple. Flowers and butterflies.3

The lake behind the park bench was alive with reflections, and it seemed to hide some sweet secret, some sparkling entry into another world, another better place, that was hinted at only in this magic moment of the day. It continued down for eternity, and one could simply stumble into the striking pink and blue water, falling and tumbling through the impossible forever. 4

The bench the boy had slept on seperated the water from a big knobbed oak tree. With the first rays of coloured sunlight shining through it's leafless eaves, it was a gnarled hand clutching for the sky. Whether to chase away the darkness or to block the light he wasn't sure. 5

Looking out at the gently lit park, he felt a peace come over him. Sure, he was a kid in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world, sleeping on a park bench because he'd escaped his abusive foster father, but something about that tree...6

He was sure it had faced challenges too: perhaps drought or disease, or one too many adventurous children. Even now, it was facing Mother Nature, its lost leaves littering the ground at its feet, but somehow, it had come out the other end of all its other battles, not unscathed, but stronger for the hurdles. And now, as a new day dawned above it, the tree was bathed in a fresh redeeming glow. As though now that it had been gifted with this new lease on life, all its demons were defeated and it was destined to a future of peace as it sheltered nests and supported kids on its strong branches.7

It gave the boy hope that perhaps, just like the tree, he could overcome life's obstacles, although his were currently noticably higher and wider that the trees could ever have been, and one day rejoice in the light of a new life. 8

Laughing out loud, the teenager drew the light jacket around his shoulders a little tighter. He must have gotten less sleep than he thought, considering how insane his thoughts were. It was a tree. Brown trunk. Gnarled branches. Thin twigs. Normally green leaves. It wasn't aware it was struggling against age old enemies. Against man, seasons and drought. And if it gave up the fight, it would be none the wiser. 9

It was a tree, not a symbol of starting over.10

Seeing a night watchman (who had the awful job of being morning watchman too) casually winding his way along the meandering pebble path, he quickly jumped up, and with one lingering glance at that entrancing tree, he made his way past the wrought iron gates and out into the busy city street. 11

Behind him, a slight breeze whistled through the tree's twigs and a few fell, in the way that only a feather-like object can – twirling and twisting through the air as though it weighs nothing – onto the mirror surface of the lake, the glass surface rippling as though broken. And as the boy blended into the crowds of thousands, another face in a sea of people, that same breeze whistled past his ear, ruffling his already wind-blown brown hair and tickling the curve of his cheek. Once again the hope swelled as for the first time, he thought of an bright future that was finally within reach.