Vagabondage

• Kai Sanders, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2015

Looking up, James stared at the Banyan tree. Today he would reach his destination once and for all; today no one was going to stop him. He plugged in his earphones and turned on his mp3, cranking up the volume to the smooth, wandering tone of Tame Impala’s Currents. The music was now the only thing he could hear, just how he liked it. Calmly, he grabbed one of the tree’s thick branches and lifted himself up, his feet leaving the soft comfort of the fig leaves that lay on the ground. It was a beautiful night, the moon was full, the wind was dead and the stars were out; perfect for climbing. James was now a lone vagabond, exploring the Banyan tree with nothing and no one to stop him.
Climbing the Banyan tree was one of the few things that James loved most in the world, as the majority of things he found were bland and distasteful; he preferred to be free and explore the world. James loved exploring, as it was a rare luxury for him; when he did experience it, he respected it above all else.
Scaling the tree, James caught sight of a bird nest in the tree to his right, just an arm’s reach away. Inside it was three pale yellow eggs, ready to hatch. James aspired to be a bird. To be free and do what he wished, to discover the world, and to live life with no limits, flying through the sky, experiencing life to the full; this was why he loved climbing the Banyan tree, it was one of the few times he could experience the freeness that a bird or any other animal of the wild would feel. To be free was the ultimate virtue, without it mankind would be obsolete.
James was now nearly at the top of the Banyan tree, he had never climbed this high before, as his parents had always discovered of his disappearance before he could get high enough. But tonight was the night; he would finally be unbound from the earth’s restraints and experience true freedom.
The leafy roof of the tree was now only a meter away. It was time. James pulled himself up breaking through the barrier of leaves, into the warm night air. The view he was rewarded with was beyond beauty. What he saw was a view of the whole valley that James called home, Typical. Up north was Lake Confidence, which always froze in winter. Down south was the Looming Mountains of Expectation and towards the East was the town that James called home, Apathy. Below him was the Forest of Yearning.
Up ahead the sun could be seen rising. Dawn had come. It was now time to return to normality once again. But James couldn’t help feel satisfied as he sat on the Banyan tree, a tree that stood proud in its surroundings, a tree that shined in its own unique beauty, a Banyan tree.