The Tree Outside | Teen Ink

The Tree Outside

October 26, 2021
By AlisaVendrow BRONZE, Cupertino, California
AlisaVendrow BRONZE, Cupertino, California
1 article 0 photos 1 comment

I sit, my head in my hand and my mind nowhere near where it should be. I should be listening to the teacher talk, but the metronome voice with the combination of a boring topic has no sense of attraction to me. I look outside gazing at the good view of green mountains and the trees swaying slightly side to side. I sway with them, maybe mimicking their motions will help me be like them. Mysterious, underappreciated, but for those who do appreciate they do it unconditionally. That's how I want to be, it’s better than being alone and having no motivation. Just one friend, one source of light is better than anything and I will even kill to have that. But then, It’s a lot easier to embrace the alluring world, when you just take a second to look, when you aren’t more interested in what your friend thinks of her new desk partner; when you would sacrifice a small part of your day, just to look. My teacher notices my disregard for him and sternly yells while stiffening his face 

“And what do you think, Lia?”. I change from looking outside to directly at him I 

“ What was the question again?”, I ask mimicking his metronome tone

“Well, Lia, maybe you should have been paying attention,” the teacher says, puffing up his chest. In realization of how much taller I made him stand, I unconsciously rebel

“ Well then, I guess I disagree,”. He scoffs at the sounds of disagreement and turns around continuing to write on the chalkboard. 

“ Get out of my classroom, if you aren’t willing to pay attention then you aren’t allowed here”. I calmly shut my textbook and pack up my stuff. As I walk out, someone walks out with me. I notice and turn around, we interlock eyes for seconds; taking a deep breath I turn around to leave. 


The author's comments:

In my set-piece, I tried to incorporate personification, you will notice how I tried to describe a tree with certain traits that wouldn’t specifically be used to describe a tree. I also tried to incorporate a bit of irony, because In the piece the girl thinks about this tree as grand and says she wants to but be just like it, but, being like a tree doesn’t seem like a good way to motivate yourself. In addition, I incorporated my perspective on the school system, because I don’t think that it’s always the best. I like how the girl in the piece decides to rebel and not just stay silent. 


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rohaan56 said...
on Nov. 5 2021 at 8:07 pm
rohaan56, Cupertino, California
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
Nice !!