Journal 118

The ground has once again started to shake. It has been a very unnerving day. Everyone is on edge. I was sleeping very soundly next to Tony this morning when the entire building started to shake. For a few moments, I thought the entire roof was going to come down on our heads. Everyone panicked. The big oak tree out in the front of the school uprooted from the ground. This tree is a hundred years old with a circumference of at least six feet. It hasn’t fallen over but it’s close to falling. What a shame the little ones love to climb that tree.

I climbed that tree once before the virus ruined everything. I ended up with detention for a week. My detention would have only been for two days, but I was a little mouthy. I should have just climbed down when Mr. O’Hara asked me too. Instead, I stood up on one of the branches and boasted of my courage and defiance against the school’s dumb rules. Mr. O’Hara didn’t have a sense of humor.

The teachers didn’t allow us to climb the tree, but it was another rite of passage that half the school aspired to. You had to get to the school before the teacher who was on yard duty got on patrol but late enough for other students to see you up in the tree as proof of your bravery. It took me forever to get brave enough to climb the tree. I got detention but I also got lots of praise and pats on the back from the other students in the school. It was my 15 minutes of fame.