Haven Of Memories

• Charlotte Smith, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2017

There's a path only children can find. Lightened by trees that look ablaze, but when you touch the leaves it feels like a kiss from a loved one. Along side the trail is a crystal blue river and a little wooden bridge. A bridge with thornless roses intertwined with the railing.
She enters a haven.
A haven of memories. But not your normal memories. There a memories that have been made. And there are memories that have yet to be made. A little girl sits on the beautiful bench, closes her eyes and allows the memories dance about her.
She visits the haven every day when suddenly she stops.
Years pass.
She is nine now, she takes the world more seriously now. She can't find the path.
Years pass.
She sits with her ten year old grandchildren in her garden, playing. They run inside, her calling that she'd follow soon. She yanks out a handful of weeds by the hedge. She discovers a little white gate. She opens it and crawls through. She see's a path. It's lit by trees that seem ablaze, yet when the leaves are touched, it's like a kiss from a loved one. Along side the trail is a crystal blue river and a little wooden bridge. A bridge with roses intertwined with it's railing.
She enters a haven, full of her memories.
There are good ones, bad ones. Happy, sad. Laughing ones and angry ones. And still some that are yet to be made. She sits down at the beautiful bench and watching her life play in front of her.
Faintly she hears her name being called, reluctantly she wanders back to her garden.
Two years pass.
She lays under a beautiful patchwork quilt. Her family gathered around her frail frame. Eyes drip tears that run races down cheeks. "Never forget. Always love. Stay true." The old woman mutters her favorite motto before retreating to a place no mortal knows.
And though her memory is hazy in this new undiscovered place one stays true. The place that holds her memories.
She remembers the small white gate. And she remembers the path, lightened by trees that seem ablaze. Yet when you touch the leaves it's like you are being kissed by a loved one. The crystal blue river that rushes by the trail. And it's little wooden bridge with thornless roses intertwined with the wooden railing. She remembers them all. Now there's a waterfall that the path fits behind. The crystal blue river's diamond waterfall, that hides the best memories. The beautiful bench. And the haven.
The haven of memories.