I Am Alone

• Marcus Astruc, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2016

I am engulfed by the moist darkness, I sense the cold grit in every direction, and I cannot escape the pressure of this surround. I am alone within this world of ebony. I'm suddenly enveloped by the warmth of light. The radiance of this ambience overwhelms me as I emerge from this hellish feeling of dread. Dawns warmth drenches every inch of my being and energises my body. It is clear that this is a special place. I am still alone. I am the only one in the centre of a sparse clearing. I do not know how I came to be here or why, all I know is I am meant to be here simply existing within this world, naked and unearthed.

As the days pass on, the others surrounding the clearing cast their downward gaze upon my thin tanned frame. Still I am alone. They don't talk to me, they just stand erect in their silence. I feel isolated from the rest of them, I know my time will come. I ponder my being and starkly realise I was taken. I was taken without my consent from my parent, and carried by a strong force over the mountains to this distant land.

I grow among their towering stature, they continue to despise me for I am not of this land. I still feel distant from their presence. I am not one of them. I am a stain amongst a land of white and grey. I yearn for family, I desire someone like me, someone who understands me, but my loneliness only grows.

The years have now gone by, I am grown. I have grown above all others until I am the tallest, and it does not feel like an accomplishment, more like a strong feeling of alienation. I am still alone and there is nothing I can do to change this situation. Spring is coming as it has every year but this year will be different. I must prepare for the festival of blooming flowers. Every spring I give everything I have, and it never occurs for me. I am not like the rest. I feel embarrassed as everyone else has bright colours and I am the same as ever, dull and plain. I do not belong here where everything around me is of brilliantly bright uniform, except me. I am alone. The only thing I have in common with everyone else is the green that shrouds me, and even then it is a deeper, darker green. As days pass I sense something growing. Excitement fills my soul, rapture has replaced my loneliness for finally my flowers are in bloom. They may not be the most colourful, but they are mine. I feel a connection amongst the rest as we are all now connected through flowers. Days pass, one by one my flowers begin to drop. Eventually the Earth is covered in me, and tiny little seeds burrow down and begin to grow. Soon enough my little saplings stretch up towards the sky, I now know I am not alone anymore.