The summer sun beamed down, making the bright daisies sparkle and shimmer like tiny stars. My hand grazed the familiar sunset pink journal, gliding over the faded rough edges. My big muddy brown eyes gazed at the sky filled with white puffy clouds. Gusts of wind blew throughout the park, dandelion puffs flying throughout the sky.
Crystal waters stained the ground as a family of geese softly swam atop. The water was a clear blue, matching the shade of my mother’s eyes. With every splash, the baby geese would come closer together. The mother goose led them to still water, making sure her children would be alright, reminding me of my own mother. My mom would pick me up, and smile at my face full of innocence. I would be wearing a beautiful gown, and end up getting it covered in birthday cake. I would dance around the room, my older sister and brother running about. Then my mother would say,

“You can do whatever you want to do, my baby girl.” She handed me a notebook that day, and ever since, I’ve never stopped writing. Soon, The flashback blurred, my mind slowly returning to the park. My eyes drifted away from the pond, looking up at the oddly shaped clouds. A giraffe-shaped and an elephant-shaped cloud flew across the sky, bringing me back to when I was only 12 years old.

“Let’s build a fort!” I shouted, sitting up off the grassy floor. My friends looked up at me, their eyes sparkling as if I had ignited some sort of firework. Right away, we all started getting to work. I rolled up my sleeves, my sturdy overalls warm for the cold journey ahead. My fingers became sappy as I collected fallen branches and leaves.

Autumn had taken a toll on the trees leaving the sky an odd mix of purple and blue with streaks of silver. I pulled out my notebook, scribbling down our blueprints. One hour later, my plan had worked! Our fort stood tall, shining bright during the cold fall. All my friends giggled as we laid down in our fort gazing at the clouds through the cracks of our tiny roof.

Suddenly, my mind drifted back to reality once more. My body lurched forward, standing up and stretching. I looked around for another cloud, but ended up staring off at the many trees around me.

The sun began to set, the trees at a silent standstill. Small children climbed up the trunks, the leaves a bright shade of green, matching the grass below. I sat back down, noticing the sapling beside me. It had a short brown stem adorned with a green top, it still had a lot of growing to do, just like me. I want to learn more. I want to travel more, to places like Italy and France. I could write about all of the places I see and work it into my fiction and fantasy. I want to have my novels inspire others to life lives of adventure. I want to write poems about oddly shaped clouds. I want to host a party where everyone just plays silly board games. I want to write literature where people feel my own characters’ emotions. I want to grow. A smile found it’s way to my face, my hand reaching out for my pink notebook. This notebook has been with me for a long time, it’s filled to the brim with stories and ideas. The smell of ink wafted through my nose, a sense of relief washing over me as one last gust of wind blew throughout the humble scenery.