The Tree of Life

A group of friends sets out to save Mother Nature from the Eternal Cloud of Doom

It was June 11, 2021 when my friends Abbie, Ella, Tucker, and I were bored at school. Suddenly, I looked out the window and saw the Eternal Cloud of Doom! There were no birds in the sky at all and I said, “That can’t be good.”

I told my friends to follow as I ran out the door toward home. I grabbed the essentials: food, water, first aid, a sword, and an extra pair of clothes. I also grabbed my hiking boots and told my friends to do the same. I met my friends at the entrance of Star Forest, and we set off on a journey to the tree of life.

After about two hours we saw a manticore (a manticore is part lion, part scorpion, and part dragon), and a very mean one indeed. As Ella took out her sword, I stopped her and said, “There’s no need to fight—look!” I pointed to the manticore; there was a branch poking out of the manticore’s neck. “That’s making the manticore mad,” I said as I slowly walked toward the manticore. I started pulling the branch out as the manticore roared at me. However, when I was done, it purred.

I smiled and said, “There you go, buddy,” and I patted him on the head.

My friend Abbie’s jaw dropped as she said, “How did you do that?”

“I just knew the problem and wasn’t afraid,” I said, and we carried on.

Suddenly, we looked up and saw the dark Eternal Cloud of Doom spreading faster, and we picked up the pace.

After an hour, I pulled out my research journal and wrote,

On June 11, 2021, I saw the Eternal Cloud of Doom. We don’t know where it came from or why it came to my city, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ll find out soon.

I closed my journal for the day and continued walking.

A little while later we were at Animal Meadow, but there were no animals, so I asked, “Where are all the animals?” Then I realized what had happened and I broke down crying, and Tuck said, “Come on, pull yourself together! We need to save the forest, or all the animals will be gone.”

I thought about it for a moment and said, “You’re right. We need to save the forest now!” I ran up the meadow as fast as I could, panting for air as I ran.

At last, we got to the tree of life, and it did not sparkle like it used to. A whirling black tornado of forest animals was twirling up to the clouds. I said, “I know what to do.” I jumped into the tornado and braced myself, as this was going to get messy.

At the top of the clouds, I looked around and I saw a girl in a black cloak, and I asked her, “Why are you up here?”

“I’m really sad.”

I crawled over to her and said, “But, why are you really sad?”

“All the people in the world keep throwing trash everywhere and harming the animals.”

I realized who this girl was—it was Mother Nature! I said, “Well, maybe we can make a difference together and then people will stop throwing trash everywhere.”

She smiled and took off her hood and said, “Thank you for trying to help me!” and together we stopped the tornado and put posters up all over the city and when we all got home, we were grounded for a week, but it was worth it!