Save The Trees

• Audrey Mccormick, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2013

Save The Trees by Audrey McCormick

Lawrence sat in the old brown tree peacefulness filling his body. He loved the little twigs that he hauled up and made his nests out of, the beautiful soft leaves that covered his whereabouts. Lawrence loved this tree.

Lawrence had dark hair and piercing green eyes. “The same colour of that tree you love,” said his mother when he asked what type of green it really was. Lawrence asked lots of questions. Good ones but no one appreciates that if it uncovers deadly secrets like how old you are or if you really do look a little fatter in that dress. Looks didn’t matter to Lawrence though blessed with good looks and taste.

Suddenly he heard a loud rumble. Lawrence slid down the dark smooth tree to see what was going on. He saw a big man in a yellow helmet and orange vest hacking down one of the trees in his beloved forest. All the peacefulness that had filled him was drained and filled him with fear. “Um…” Lawrence started. “What are you doing?” “What does it look like?” the man growled. Lawrence was nearly in tears, the forest meant so much to him. “Why?” he sniffled. The man saw the hurt in Lawrence’s eyes. “Hey don’t cry it’s just a tree”. This made Lawrence wonder how stupid this man actually was, didn’t he know that if these trees weren’t here the world would be polluted and dead. “I’m going to stop you”, Lawrence declared. “Be my guest”, laughed the man, “It’ll make my job easier ‘cause I won’t have to cut down all of these”. He gestured to the trees and then pulled out a notebook. “If you fill this book with a hundred signatures of people who don’t want this place torn down, you’ll save the forest”. Lawrence grabbed the battered notepad, said a hurried thanks and ran off to get some signatures.

“Oh, by the way” called the man, “It has to be done by tomorrow!”

Lawrence ran into the city asking everyone he passed to sign his petition. No one did. Once he got to town he was frantic. Asking got him nowhere. It seemed no one cared about the little forest and how much it meant to him. Desperate, he got up onto the milk crate he had been using as a seat.

“EVERYONE LISTEN!” he shouted at the crowds. Some people stopped in surprise. “A beautiful, thriving forest is about to be destroyed and if we do nothing about it we’ll be killers and monsters. Don’t let pride and greed stop you from making the right choice”. Lawrence looked at the enormous crowd that had arisen. A man took the notebook and signed. A lady took it off the man and signed it as well. Everyone signed one by one and finally gave it back to Lawrence. Thanking the crowd, he ran to the beautiful forest and saved it.