by Monique Morris

Created on: June 15, 2010

The Winter Trees

The trees were at the mercy of the cold winds that winter brought with all its fury. The fall had already robbed them of their leaves, and even though the trees had faced winter before and knew the usual times it would approach, they were surprised when it finally came. Adia had spent her whole life hiding behind the shadows of her parents. The trees gave her comfort during the summer, but winter had stolen the safe haven that the warmth of July had brought. Now, was the despised time of Adia's life that she was to fight the battle of life all on her own without the promise of the trees.

Out the window, she looked, trying to picture the trees as they were in the summer. Her family was known for their suspicious wealth. Rumor had it that they obtained their many riches through murder and blackmail. This was not true, but Adia’s parents neither denied nor confirmed these rumors, they kept their mouths sealed as a closed door with no key, allowing the rumors to blossom and spread. Adia often wondered why her parents would allow the ones they call their friends to think that they were murderers. She once asked her mother, but her mother dismissed her question. Adia had no idea why her family was so secretive, and she didn't know how they became wealthy, but she did know that she missed the trees and desperately wanted spring to come soon. It was her favourite season, the season of the rebirth. The rumors and secrets that surrounded her parents were not the only trials that made Adia's life miserable.

Ever since passing the stage of kindergarten, when childlike innocence begins to evaporate and the two sisters ‘gossip’ and ‘shame’ find their way into the hearts and minds of little, unsuspecting children, Adia had been the victim of the erosion of childhood innocense. The abuse wouldn't stop, even now, in her second  year of high school. Her friends from kindergarten, now thought of her as a “snobby rich girl,” and this they would say daily in the cafeteria. It created a rift between Adia and food. She couldn't bear to eat, it only reminded her of the teasing she faced each day. She sometimes a faint amount of hope that one day her friends would be her friends again, but it seemed that the more the children matured, the worse their insults would get. It was sophomore year, only two years away from the season of total rebellion, and these kids were preparing for it. “Snobby rich girl” changed

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