A Memoir... Sort of

It was a hot and humid summer day. I had woken up without a blanket and pillows because I had thrown them across my little room at night. I sat up and retrieved my pink princess blanket and the matching pillows before getting up and running to my parents room down the hall. Once I made it to the door, I rushed in and jumped right in-between my still sleeping parents. I glanced at the little back digital clock which sat on their night stand. 6:47 am.

I retreated from my parents room and walked back down the hall to the living room. On the left wall was our two large shelves of movies. I grabbed the metal stepladder from beside the computer table and opened it in front of the second shelving unit. I climbed up three steps until I was eye level with section "L". On tiptoes I scrolled my finger across the movies until I saw the familiar blue colour with a little red haired mermaid on it. I took the movie off the shelf and walked down the three steps.

"The Little Mermaid" was my favourite movie. I loved mermaids, swimming, all the colourful fish and the music. I walked over to the TV and turned on the movie system. I clicked and pressed all the right buttons to set it up. I pressed the eject button, opened up the DVD case, took the movie out and carefully placed the disc in the player. I watched as the machine ate the disc and the screen went blue. I turned around and walked to the couch, opposite of the TV. I sat and watched the credits. Looking for the new movies coming out that I would want to watch until the menu came up. I then had to walk back up to the screen to press the enter button before settling back on the couch. I only made it to "Part of your World" before I dozed back off to sleep.

When I woke up 2 hours later, I could smell the eggs and bacon wafting down the stairs to the basement. Someone must have put a pillow under my head and a blanket over me. I took the blanket off and noticed my brother, Cailan, lying asleep on the other side of the couch. I left him sleeping and went up the stairs to the kitchen. "Good morning everyone!” I said in a loud voice. I could see that my dad and aunt jean were cooking, and the door to the back yard was open. That usually meant that my grandparents were outside. I put on my little yellow boots by the door and ran to the garden whilst still in my pick pyjama dress. I kissed my grandparents good morning and asked them if I could pick some peas. I did this every morning so it was no surprise when my grandma answered, "Of course! just make sure to get some for your brother too."

I walked over to the side of the garden where the peas were. I managed to grab a few big ones before I heard my mother's loud voice calling me to eat, "Caitlyn! It's time to eat! Daddy even cut you strawberries and put sugar on them for you!" With a large smile on my face I replied with a quick, "Don't eat any! I'm coming!" and sprinted back to the house with the peas in my tight grip.

When I got back to the house I raced to my spot at the table beside my mother. I we leaning against her while my dad put down two plates loaded with crispy bacon and scrambled eggs. As I began to put food on my plate, my brother came upstairs and took his seat to the left of me. He groggily said, "Morning everyone," and I replied with a hug. Then my grandparents took t heir place at the table and were followed by my dad, aunt Fe and Aunt Jean. Together we sat down and ate our breakfast.

After breakfast I went back downstairs to my room to get changed. I put on a pair of denim shorts, a plain yellow t-shirt and a pink sun hat. Once I was ready I went to see what my brother was up to. "Cailan?!” I called out while walking towards his room. "I'm playing with my trains, Caitlyn," was his response. So I walked into his room and sat on the floor with him and his trains. I looked at my brother and said, “I'm going to play outside, so you can join me if you'd like to." I stood up, walked out of his room and made my way upstairs to I could go outside.

As soon as I made it outside I could feel the humidity and the sun on my shoulders. I ran to the large cherry tree and looked up at all the branches. Almost every branch was covers in green leaves and adorned with shining red cherries. I walked over to the ladder against the tree. I was so happy that my dad had moved it there last week. I climbed up the 10 steps and then stepped onto the tree. I knew my way around the branches because I would spend a lot of time playing in the tree. I climbed up the tree and grabbed the basket that I left there for me. I had left a basket in the tree so that I could collect cherries and eat them in the tree.

I had collected half a basket of cherries before I took a break on my favourite branch to eat cherries. I would stay up in the tree for hours collecting cherries, eating them and then spitting the seeds as far as I could. The cherry tree was my place. It was a place where I could spend the whole day and never get tired. And if I did get tired, I could take a nap. It was a special place only for me. I could play jungle, house, read, sleep, stare at the sky, feel the breeze and hear the branches and leaves move. My cherry tree felt like home.