It’s been a while, but it’s Write on Wednesday time again. The photo above is the prompt, for the full prompt, click here.
“Look at me!” the little boy called out from his vantage point among the roots of the upturned tree. “Mummy, look at me!”
He had a look of wondrous achievement on his face, as if he had just climbed Mount Everest. Against the twisted tangle of the grey roots, his bright red jacket stood out as he held on fearlessly with one hand and waved to his mother with the other hand.
From the other end of the beach, a panic stricken woman raced up toward the giant upturned tree.
“Xander! Get down from there!” she screamed at the boy, fear coming through in every word. The little boy ignored the cries from his mother and turned back to the roots and kept climbing, a cheeky grin on his face betraying the fact he had heard the scream and was deliberately ignoring them.
In a matter of minutes, the woman was at the foot of the snarl of roots towering above the beach, looking up at her son, the look on her face willing him to change his mind and come down again. The little boy looked down again and waved.
“Mummy, I can see all the way out to sea.” his voice full of wonder at the view stretching out in front of him. He paused for a few minutes then started to climb down again. The mother’s expression changed from one of panic and hopelessness to one of hope.
Off in the distance, a dog barked excitedly, getting closer to the where the tree lay. His feet back on the sand, he ran off in the direction of the barking. “Puppy!” came the excited reply. The frazzled mother chased after him, her words of warning to her son carried backwards on the wind.
