Yunji Kim/ Meaningful Place Final Draft/ Thurs 1-3PM

That One Special Tree

             I was always the kind of person who enjoyed hanging out with a small group of friends. In high school, as well, I had four close friends who I ate, talked, laughed and did everything with. We all lived close so we always walked home together after school. It was not a short way home from school, but I remember continuously laughing and giggling all the way.

             On hot summer days, it was almost impossible to walk straight home under the sizzling weather. The burning weather forced us to stop and hide under tree shades. There was a place we always went. It was a bench under a tree, located just about halfway home. Before we dragged ourselves to the shade, we always went to the optician's right next to the bench. They gave out free ice creams for those who had membership cards, and the three of us had the membership. I remember sitting on the bench and sharing the ice creams we grabbed. The tree was big enough to cover all four of us and big enough to cover us from others. It was like our own secret place that could not be seen from the big streets. That's why we took our shoes off and even lied on the bench like it was our room. We chatted on and on under the tree, the content of the chat being laughter and random comments.

             I clearly remember lying down on the bench, frowning a little under the brilliant sunlight peaking through the leaves. My friends and I used to stay there for a long time until we could recharge ourselves to walk into the sizzling sunlight again.

             This place is truly meaningful to me because my best friends and I spent most of our high school time under this tree. These four friends and I are still close friends and we sometimes talk about the fun memories under the tree. Unfortunately, when we stopped by the bench under the tree again few months ago, it was not the same place we remembered. It became a smoking area of a newly-built building, and our place became full of cigarette butts and heavy sighs of smokers. It may not be the same relaxing place in our memories, but the tree still stands there at the same place, as an inseparable part of my teenage life.