I Look Around (Short Story)

Attached to people. Bound to ground. Chapters of my life... From the perspective of a Tree in a house garden.

Author notes at the end.

Short Story:

I Look Around

Chapter 1: Happy

I look around.
A small boy is looking at me.
He's giving me water.
It makes me happy.
There's a woman behind him.
He looks back at that woman.
She gives him a smile.
It makes me happy.
Ah, they're going away...
Stay longer!
I saw them go...
It makes me sad.
I look around.

Chapter 2: Thirsty

I'm thirsty...
I look around for help.
A small boy is running my way.
He's giving me water.
I'm happy.
I'm not thirsty anymore.
Did I see this boy before?
He went away.
I'm sad...
But also happy.
I thank the boy.
...and look around.

Chapter 3: Cold

I look around.
I can't see well.
Everything is dark.
Everything is cold.
The rain is attacking my face.
The boy and the woman come.
They cover me up.
It makes me happy.
The boy and the woman go away.
"Stay safe"
I declare a wish.
I can't see well.
But I look around.

Chapter 4: Lonely

I don't see the boy now.
I look around for him.
The woman comes by.
She gives me water.
It makes me happy.
She walks away slowly.
She looks tired.
The boy used to come with her.
But he doesn't come anymore.
It makes me lonely.
I look around for him.

Chapter 5: Young Man

I don't see the boy anymore.
I don't see the woman anymore.
I'm so lonely.
Someone is coming...
It's that man.
This young man is giving me water now.
He makes me happy.
But I want to see the boy again.
I look around for him.
But I never see the boy again.

Chapter 6: Jealous

I look around.
I'm thirsty,
but I'm not sad.
The man comes and gives me water.
The man is getting shorter.
He gives me water,
but he also gives water to something else.
I'm happy,
but also jealous.
He gives the thing besides me more water.
I look around as the man goes away.

Chapter 7: Sibling

The one besides me greets me.
It's my sibling.
This one enjoys the water too.
I greet this sibling.
I hide my jealousy and look around.

Chapter 8: Channges

Something is changing.
I don't fully understand.
The man doesn't come as often now.
When he comes,
he doesn't look my way.
I look below.
The man brings this new person with him.
The new person gives me water this time.
I like this new person.
The man gives water to my sibling.
I hide my jealousy.
I like the new person more
The next time the man returns,
I will look below for this person.

Chapter 9: I Look Below

I look below.
The man doesn't come anymore.
The new person gives me water.
She also gives water to my sibling.
She looks tired.
She reminds me of a woman I hardly remember.
"Stay safe"
I declare a wish to this person.
I look below for her.

Chapter 10: The Person I Like

I look below.
The person I like gives me water.
She does not look tired anymore.
That makes me happy.
She brings a child with her.
The child is loud.
But he gives my sibling water.
My sibling is happy.
I'm not jealous of my sibling anymore.
I look below.
The person I like and her child went away.
I look below for them.

Chapter 11: Missing

I look below.
The man returns.
I hardly seem to remember him.
He looks different.
He moves slowly.
But he gives me water.
I am happy.
My sibling is happy.
The child comes too.
He looks happy too.
I don't see the person I like.
I look below for her.

Chapter 12: Smile

I look below.
The person I like is there.
She looks different.
She does not move by herself.
The boy steers her.
I'm sad.
She looks at me.
A sad smile.
They all go away.
I look below for her,
But I never see her again.

Final Chapter: Dream

I look below.
The man moves slowly under me.
He lies below me.
He looks tired.
He doesn't give me water anymore.
The child does.
But he looks different.
The child goes away again.
I look below.
The man lies below me.
His face is peaceful.
He sleeps.
I sleep.
In my dream,
I see a young boy I hardly remember.
In my dream, I don't look below.
I look around.

The End

Thanks for reading - Author Notes:

This story is the original script of a Visual Novel I developed. You can play it on Itch.io.

The protagonist is a tree, and this is a slice-of-life story from its perspective. About the people it meets and what they make it feel.

If you got attached to any character by the end, I'm proud.

While writing this, I tried to use the present tense in all passages. Which was hard because of my habit of writing stories with the past tense. I'm usually more descriptive in my writing.

I'm afraid of some people reading this and think my English is only at 4th grader level, but I wrote it simple because I wanted the character to feel basic-minded. I tried to write a clear story while using a child-like way of speaking. I wanted this tree to sound "in the moment" in every line.

• This short story is also on Hive's Ecency.

• Play and share the game version here and read about this story's creation in this devlog.