Obstacles

Chapter 6

As us two walked through the store, my hand glided along the plasticky shelves, my eyes wide and mesmerized for reasons even I didn't understand.

The store wasn't overly crowded, but had enough people to have it considered "busy." Seeing that didn't make me too happy, due to the fact I am not a fan of people.

Along the many shelves sat the variety of glasses. Next to the shelves, Thomas and I found a few seats to sit down in inside the waiting area. I sat down and Thomas walked up to the counter to get in line. I waited about three minutes for Thomas in a seat closest to a window.

While I sat down, Thomas went up to the employee working at the counter. Although I couldn't hear the conversation, I already knew it was obviously about getting my new glasses.

I looked out the rather large window; it had many smudges from finger prints scattered along the bottom half of the window left from children that came previously before me.

I looked across the street to see the town's park. It was always a family friendly park. It had a couple playgrounds for kids, which consisted of slides, swing sets, sand boxes, monkey bars, and a couple small rock climbing walls.

It was easy to tell that the playgrounds were old though. The paint was all chipped and fainted. It was in need of a new layer of wood chips as well, but that was hardly noticeable.

Of course there was the classic small basketball court as well. The hoop's net's that were once white are now a light brownish gray. The red paint that lined the edge was faded from the sun and chipped over time. And the white lines that were made for the court were in need of a new paint job. But regardless it made the park look loved in a special way I suppose.

Scattered throughout the park are benches. Each one directed at a certain angle of the park for the parents. Some benches are just normal benches placed for whatever the reason. Others are there in memory of certain people that passed away tragically. One is there for my mom actually.

Although the park may not sound loved, it certainly was by the citizens. In fact, I believe a man named Mr. Greenwood is throwing a fundraiser in a few weeks to earn money to fix the place up.

Surrounding the park, there is a row of trees and bushes that my generation had planted together back when we were all five or six. Behind the row of newer trees are old ones from hundreds of years ago.

    They have grown quite a lot since that day, but obviously they have a way to go.

~

"Hey mommy? Why are we planting so many trees? This seems so boring." I said tilted my head to the side. I put my sun hat on my head.

I adjusted my older tee I was wearing specifically for if I had been doing something that involved playing in the mud. Than I slipped on one of my bright blue gloves, to realize I was putting it backwards. I pulled it off quickly hoping no one noticed. Than I put on my my other glove, making sure that it was on correctly. After that, I took my shovel that was made for children my age/height, placing it gingerly onto the ground.

My mom looked down at me, her hazel eyes sparkling wildly. "Well we are planting trees because they help us do many things. Plus, don't you want to be my little helper?" She asked me with her angelic voice .

I eyed her curiously as she glanced over to my father, who was a hundred feet away grabbing tree saplings for us. "Of course I want to help mommy. But...they help us? How mommy?"

"Well for one thing, they help us breathe. But they also provide us something to climb, to hide behind during hide and seek, or to even build a treehouse on when we are big and strong just to name a few things." She winked at me and waved my father over to where we were standing.