Haylee And The Apple.

• Grace Mannings, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2013

Vaneese was cold, dark, lost.
The streets dusty and grey, covered in rubbish. The building walls littered in graffiti. Nobody talked to each other. From the outside may seem even deserted and silent, but in one particular house (10 Black Street) Haylee Martcher-Kay had hope. She went to school at Lighter Ridge Primary- in a suburb close by. She was at school, eating and apple and she got to the core. Of course!
“Vaneese will be happy.” She cried. “Shh…” the librarian said.
After school she set to work. She took $30 from the family jar and ran off to the nursery where she bought a large partially-grown apple tree, and an arrangement of seeds including; corn carrots, beans, potatoes, lettuce, leeks and blueberries and a strawberry bush.
She decided to plant them in the town square for everyone to see. She put the apple tree in the middle and the seedlings and strawberry bush around it. It looked amazing and she could not wait to see it next spring.
The next day Haylee and the rest of her school painted painting of beaches and gardens and sunsets and trees over the graffiti. At the end everyone got to paint their own little picture. Some of themselves some of suns and there was even one of their dog. It was beautiful and a week to the unveiling of their newfound town.
The 8th of March was the Mayor Zschech’s birthday. Nobody usually celebrated but this year was different. Haylee had put little notice in everyone’s mail boxes telling people to meet at the town square for a special mystery event; ‘for the mayor/town’s birthday!’.
Everybody gathered even Great Great Great Uncle Bill who was nobody’s uncle but he was so old he knew everyone’s Grandparent’s. The mayor and Haylee unveiled the garden together and when the ginormous sheet. At first people frowned but then they smiled. They started chattering and some toddlers began a game of tiggy.
Haylee grinned. It would take a while, but Vaneese was beginning to get better.