Have you ever had a bad experience doing something? Were you terrified of doing that one thing after? I had a bad experience doing something that I enjoyed, and I am glad that I didn’t get too scared to keep doing it.

I sat on a cold, rock bench, picking at the fuzzy bits of vibrant green moss that speckled the rough bumpy stone. I felt a gentle breeze against my skin. I studied the light sapphire blue sky and saw the clouds that looked like wool before it is spun into string through the dense reaching branches of the tree behind me. Beginning to feel bored, I decided to start climbing the small tree behind me. I stood up on the stone bench, and I grabbed a nearby large branch, feeling the rough bark. I pulled myself up so that I was sitting on the branch; I reached and grabbed another thick branch and pulled myself onto that one.

I advanced up the tree, finding a long sturdy branch. I carefully made my way along the branch. Grabbing on to a twig for balance, I stopped. Looking around me, I could see tiny green twigs with buds or even tiny leaves. I felt the warm sun’s rays on my back; I took a breath of the fresh air, and I savored the moment. I looked down; from my point of view it looked like I was about seven feet off the ground. I could see the light green grass and the stone bench. I decided to climb back down the tree, but before I could move I heard a tiny snap, and suddenly I was staring at that light sapphire blue sky.

I panicked as I fell out of the branches of the tree and toward the ground, not knowing when I would land, seeing the complicated web of branches like thin fingers rapidly slip out of my reach, the sky making the branches look dark and shadowy, when THUMP! I hit the cold ground, the blades of grass like tiny needles against my shoulder and the back of my head and soon the rest of my body as I flopped onto the ground. I immediately jumped up, my heart racing, and started running to the nearby porch. At the porch I caught my breath. I watched the bushes and the tall grass sway in the wind. I was fine except for a few bruises, and a week later I found another sturdy looking climbing tree, so of course I took a deep breath, grabbed onto a branch and climbed it.

I had a bad experience climbing trees, but instead of avoiding tree climbing I continued to do it. If you ever have a bad experience with anything that you like to do, just remember that that one experience doesn't mean that you should stop doing that thing forever. You should catch your breath, and when you feel ready, do that thing again.

 

 

 

-Madeline S.