Climbing Trees
Fun-sized fiction
Mary and Esther sat at the table, drinking their freshly brewed Earl Grey tea.
Esther liked her tea strong with only a dash of milk, while Mary preferred hers weak with two sugars and no milk.
“I remember when I was younger,” Esther said, “we would climb the enormous jacaranda trees that lined our street.”
“Oh, jacaranda trees?” said Mary, “they’re beautiful.”
“They sure are,” agreed Esther.
Mary took a sip of her tea. “We were never allowed to climb trees when I was a girl. My mother said it wasn’t proper for a girl to do that. But I did anyway when she wasn’t looking.”
“Really?” said Esther, reaching for a homemade shortbread biscuit, “My mother was only too happy that we were out of the house and not under her feet.”
“Oh, how times have changed,” said Mary, “—these days you hardly ever see kids climbing trees anymore.”
“That’s true,” said Esther, “They’re too preoccupied with other things.”
“How unfortunate,” said Mary, “I’d rather climb trees than be preoccupied with the other things.”
“Me too,” said Esther.
