The Trees of Rose Garden (standard:horror, 1166 words)
Author: Alexander C. Quinn	Added: Aug 18 2002	Views/Reads: 3534/2288	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
There are many lessons we can learn from trees.

The Trees of Rose Garden By Alexander C. Quinn 

Exactly one week after Jeffrey Liam's tenth birthday, his parents had
their very last argument. It was over between Jeff's mother and father 
and he would go live with his mother in her new apartment. 

It was the Rose Garden apartment complex, which by the looks of it was
named after the small bed of roses in front of the sign. The grounds 
surrounding the apartments looked very nice. The grass was a brilliant 
green and cut almost too perfect. There were very few trees throughout 
the grounds except on the side of Jeff's building. There was a healthy, 
dark miniature forest of beautiful pine trees. Underneath the trees the 
ground was dark with leaves and pine needles. There was no grass and 
many of the trees' roots were exposed through the dark brown dirt. The 
groundskeepers obviously didn't pay to much attention to the area under 
those trees, but they sure did keep the lawns as well as the apartments 
looking great. 

Inside the apartment was a different story. Jeff and his mother lived in
a first floor basement apartment, where half was underground and the 
other half was above. The orange and yellow carpet covered what felt 
like a cement floor and had a damp and musty feel to it. The windows 
were small and high except for the one big window in Jeff's bedroom, 
which slid open sideways and looked directly at the giant pine trees. 
Jeff saw it as a door that he could come and go through as he pleased 
without talking to his mother. Jeff felt resentment towards her for 
taking him out of his nice house to this weird little apartment. 

The first night in the new apartment Jeff could not sleep. Every time he
lied down he felt a tremendous weight on him. It was as if the weight 
of the world was on his back. Every time he woke up his mother to tell 
her she would yell, "Get back to bed." He thought about taking off, 
climbing out that big window and just leaving forever. 

Unable to sleep or even relax, Jeff just stayed up all night looking out
the window. Looking over at the trees he became mesmerized by them. 
They began to look fake, almost plastic and seemed to have their own 
peaceful energy. It was about two in the morning, the latest Jeff had 
ever stayed up, when he noticed something. The roots that were already 
exposed beneath the trees began moving. Other roots started coming out 
of the ground interweaving and growing all around. Jeff was amazed and 
couldn't take his eyes off the magical trees. This must be a dream, he 
wanted to go out and play with the trees and be embraced by those warm, 
beckoning roots. 

Jeff watched the tress for what seemed to be all night. He didn't even
remember going to bed. He felt extremely tired when he woke up bright 
and early to go to school. Even though he moved he didn't have to 
change schools. That was a huge relief, because without his best friend 
Eric he wouldn't know what to do. 

That day at school he told Eric about what he saw last night and, of
course, Eric didn't believe him. He just laughed at Jeff and called him 
stupid. Jeff had to show him, so he invited him Eric to sleep over 
Friday night. Then he could show him the trees and prove to Eric that 
he isn't stupid. 

Every night that week was the same, Jeff stayed up and watched the
magical trees and their roots dance and grow. They would move all night 
and rest all day. Everyday they were in different patterns along the 
ground but no one seemed to notice or pay any attention to them. 

Then Friday night came around and Eric was at Jeff's house. They went
out to the trees during the afternoon and nothing happened. This was 
the first time Jeff had ever been near the trees and wasn't sure what 
to expect. Although they appeared to be normal pine trees, Jeff knew 
they weren't. Eric walked over the oddly shaped roots, started climbing 
one of the trees and calling Jeff stupid. Jeff stood back and watched. 
He was afraid of the strange, giant pine trees and their forbidden dark 
shadows. 

After climbing the trees and taunting Jeff, Eric joined him for dinner.
Jeff's mother cooked up a classic America gourmet meal of hotdogs and 
macaroni and cheese. During dinner Jeff remained quiet because he knew 
that tonight Eric would see the tress come alive and would never call 


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