If Only She Knew

by Sareena Johnson

(The life of a tree)

Watching the world change threw time. I’ve never felt so old. I’ve watched the season change; my closest friends get sick and die. I always ask myself when these will happen to me. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time until they come after me. I’ve made a new friend she tells me her name is Dragonfly. I must admit she’s a little strange she comes and hugs me or just eat her lunch and ramble on about how people like her need to recycle. “What ever that means.”

I think she gave me a nickname of some sort, she calls me Wood. I don’t mind I guess Dragonfly is just different. There’s many like her running around this neck of the woods giving out hugs and talking about God knows what. Just the other day Dragonfly and her friends got together and were passing out papers and were giving them to us to hide. Dragonfly places one underneath me so no one but her friends can find it. I think people feel in this day in age you can just come invaded a person’s privacy or disturb them while sleeping.

I will never forget the man who came to us the other day. He was short fat had a dirty white t-shirt and had the meanest New York accent I’ve ever heard looked like he hadn’t shaved in days. He was discussing. On his shirt it said Polly. Then he pulled out a tape measure and wrapped it around me and wrote down how wide I was and left. It made me feel very uncomfortable like he was trying to say is too big or fat. I feel like im getting sick, im growing somewhat of a white fungus, but im hanging in there though that’s what happens when you get as old as I am 101 to be exact.

I woke up in shock it was pitch black dark nothing but darkness all around me. I felt a chain at the bottom of my feet. As I looked down I noticed there was Dragonfly. She was chained to me. I could see bright shiny head lights in the distance, and here a load noise of a big truck or machine of some sort. I started getting scared when the lights got closer they were shining on my other friends there were chained to with Dragonflies friends. I didn’t know what was going on the echoing of police sirens were getting closer. And I could hear a man yelling, “Please leave or we will use force.” Dragonfly screamed “Never! you take them down im going with them.” The police officers set up four huge lights around my friends and me and I could see everything. I saw Polly take the microphone the officer had he said “look here girl there’s nothing you can do there going to be cut down wheatear you like it or not your wasting your time.” Dragonfly screams we are not leaving until this is over.” I look overhead and there’s a helicopter flying low it causes me to sway back and forth. Next thing I know there are news crews all pulling up running toward the police and is trying to hold them back. But they can’t and they come rushing for Dragonfly and her friends, and one reporter from a news station talks fast and say “this is channel seven news im reporting live from Redwood Oak National Park where there is 12 teenagers that chained themselves to trees in order to save Oakwood Park.

The reporter says”I m here with a girl named Dragonfly Smith, Dragonfly what do you want to change by being out here tonight?” “I want heartless people to stop cutting down our trees that we as human being so desperately need, if you care then you would be out here with us supporting, if you care then you would take action.” “Well you heard it heard folks I’m Debra Willis reporting live from Redwood National Park now back to you Stan.”

The noises keep fading threw the night all the sirens and lights shut off, and all there was darkness just us Dragonfly and her friends chained never letting go or breaking free.

The next morning the sun was starting to rise I could see a lazar of light that somehow made its way threw the fog. The air was cold enough to bring chills up your spine.

Dragonfly hoped up quickly and she fell over forgetting she was chained to me. She started yelling to her friends “wake up!” as her friends started to open their eyes and getting up slowly Dragonfly pointed her finger straight ahead bringing to there attention all that was left was Polly and the policeman just standing there with there arms crossed.

Dragonfly called out to Polly and said “Now will you leave them alone stop cutting them down, stop suffocating us as human beings?” Polly started walking slowly toward Dragonfly the policeman grabbed Polly’s arm afraid that he might do something stupid but Polly pulled back fiercely. I could hear his footsteps getting faster and hear the branches beneath his feet braking in half. Dragonfly screamed, “Why won’t you stop!”

Polly stopped in front of her face and said, “If I stop will you leave, will you just pack up and go and I won’t ever have to see your face again?” Dragonfly said “If that happens I would be happy to leave all my friends will leave happy, and you won’t ever see us again.” Polly turned around and yelled to his friend who was sitting in there company truck to start it up there were going to leave, Polly turned around and said “So I wont see you again?” Dragonfly said “Exactly.” Polly said “Ok and walked away.” The policeman turned around and got in his car Dragonfly and her friends started jumping up and down saying “We did it we won!” Dragonfly pulled out the key to unlock the chains. Dragonfly and her friends were so happy screaming and getting in their cars to go home and tell people the good new, I guess? They forgot all about me…

That night it was cold and dark, there were no sounds. A cars headlight stared to get closer. Then the motor of the car and the lights shout off .It was dark again no sounds just silence about ten minutes later I hear I car door close then another close. I could hear to sets of footsteps getting closer and closer, but all I could do was just stand there. I started to hear the branches crunching beneath there feet; I didn’t know what to do.

I hear a motor starting up it wasn’t of a car or truck it was something else a noise I’ve heard before but I can’t put my finger on it. I hear one of the footsteps run back and someone’s says “I will turn on the lights.” It was killing me who it was.

The lights shut on and there was Polly standing right in front of my face. That’s when I had a flashback the sound I was hearing was of a saw... Yes that was it a saw the same one that cut my friends into pieces; the same saw I’ve been scared of my whole entire life. I still couldn’t move he started cutting me at the bottom by the time Polly got half way threw my body I fell to the ground and everything went black.

When I woke up I could feel the dirt and branches hitting my broken body, when I looked around I found Polly and four other guys helping him drag me to a truck. They picked me up and threw me in the back. Polly piled ten more victims on me, they strapped us down. The truck got on the road they kept driving and driving it never stopped.

Then we pulled into two iron gates the sign on the outside said “Polly’s Construction Company”. I had no idea what was going on. The truck backed up slowly and Polly got out and said to his friends “We ran into some trouble trying to get these down.” His friend just laughed and said “Ok lets get to work lets unload them so we can get started.” Polly said, “ Lets do it help me pull them off the truck” Polly called over five more workers to help take us on a long tube that ran on rotating wheels at the bottom.

They picked me up; they put me on the tube, and all I can say was this shouldn’t happen to anyone, shredding, pounding, bleaching, cutting, and packaging. It was a different kind of pain no one like me should go threw this.

Where am I now? I’ll tell you where I am… sitting on a store self with my friends, closed and encased in printed paper. Then one day someone picked me up took me home, I was so scared I didn’t know what they needed with me. They tore the printed poster open and there was Dragonfly she put me on some sort of robot that ate me piece by piece. If only she knew it was me, would she still write on me? Would she have really cared? I just wanted to scream “Dragonfly it’s me!” but I can’t, so I’m silent now and always forever. “God if only she knew.”