Heather

• Irene Ju, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2008

Heather stared blankly out the stained window and studied the texture of the leaves. She scrutinised the elegance of the lines- the waves and curls, the zigzags and straight lines. She loved to study the insides of leaves and dissect the different routes that it contained. People had always told her to grow up, that it was no use, that there was no pride in her personality; but she loved it.
“Heather, come out to play, Heather, please, I’m so bored,” called her neighbour, Phillip from behind the gate. Smiling, she slid off her bed and walked out, closing the door silently behind her. Outside, she met Philip, smiling eagerly as he saw her walk out of her front door.
He noticed her long blonde hair was in two neat plaits resting on her thin shoulders. Her face was always bright, flushed with freckles on the top of both cheeks. She smiled at him with greeting grins. Together, they walked up to the giant oak tree up the hill and climbed up to the highest branch they could find.
Heather felt the cool, autumn breeze flow through her hair and she closed her eyes, her fair fringe shading her eyelids. Philip watched her closely. He too lay settled comfortably in a wedge of a branch and closed his eyes, gently feeling the rough, yet friendly nature of the oak tree. Both of them enjoyed autumn very much.
They didn’t know time was passing until they could no longer feel the warmth of the sun’s glow. Looking up, Philip said in a timid voice, “Heather, I think we should go now, it’s getting dark.” With that, she held his hand and slowly hoisted him down with her. Heather stripped a branch of a few leaves so she could dissect them when she reached home.
Finally, when she had dropped Philip off at his house and flopped onto her bed, she turned on her laptop and slowly closed her eyes in a doze as she heard the welcoming buzz of the computer. However, she opened them suddenly, startled, at an almost clanking sound.


Carefully, she looked around her laptop, scrutinising the technical devices and keys. Finally, looking at the very bottom of her computer, she found that a microchip was missing and there was a minute hole that lay gaping amongst the pure white of her base. Sighing, she closed her laptop screen and plopped down, laying her head gently on her pillow.
Days, weeks, months past and for even years she could not use her laptop because of the missing microchip. She wondered if she would ever be able to see her pictures stored on the hard drive ever again. Disappointment and fear broke into her face and she looked down with gloom.
Looking down, she saw the five leaves that were now withered, ones she had stripped from the humungous oak tree a few months ago with Philip. Gently, she picked one up in her fingers and she felt a minute bump in the stem. Tilting her head to one side inquisitively, she sliced open the middle of the leaf, being careful not to disturb the bump in the stalk.
Finally, when she had sliced open the leave, she peeled off the excess to discover something that glistened and glittered in the gloom. Her eyes opened wide. It was the microchip, the last rays of the sun reflecting off the glistening glamour of the metal. A slow smile gradually hooked on her freckled face.