My Guava Tree
Tu Ton

        During my childhood I lived in Dalat, a small city in Vietnam. Behind my home, there

was a small garden with many kinds of trees and flowers. At the end of the garden, there

was the big guava tree that I liked the best. This guava tree was higher than my house and

its branches rose up, covering one entire  corner of the garden. In the tree, between the

lower branches, I built something that looked more like a “tree bed” than a “tree house.” I

took some pieces of wood and nailed them to the branches. My “bed” was about three feet

wide and five feet long. It was about six feet off the ground. The tree with the bed was  my

whole world. Every afternoon, after school, my best friend and I would climb up the tree to

play many games. We would sit on the bed to play chess, we would jump down on the

grass from the bed, or we would climb to the branches high in the tree and swing from

them. It was a little dangerous but very amusing. In summer, guavas ripened all over the

tree. My friends came around the tree to gather guavas. They were so delicious that my

friends and I would eat several every day. When we got tired, we just lay down on the

wooden bed to relax. We could see the sunlight shining through the layers of leaves, hear

the birds singing, and feel the cool wind blowing over us. It was fantastic!  Now I have

grown up and live far away from my childhood home, but I will never forget my backyard

garden with my favorite guava tree.