Where the Railroad Extends

I remember when I was maybe seven or eight, going to this giant tree. See, we lived in a housing addition (still do, just about 40 minutes away) but behind the house was a giant field. And to the right there was a railroad track. It was never used, literally never. It probably stopped being in use a long time ago, but we still had to look both ways whenever we crossed the tracks.

This railroad was surrounded by trees on both sides. Like a tree line towards the top of a mountain. It ended and started in a clear place, but it was like our own little section of woods for all the neighborhood kids.

In this “forest” of a sort, was a tree about twenty feet tall, but it was humongous in diameter and width, with large branches extending in almost every direction. It almost looked like an enchanted tree in the stories.

My brothers, neighbors and I all made it into our own little hideout. No weeds grew around the tree, it honestly was spectacular because nothing but that one tree grew in that area.

We would take wooden board that we found lying around the place and make little buildings and structures. One was a ladder leading onto one of the tree branches, while another was putting boards in between two branches to make a roof if it ever rained.

To get to this tree, one had to cross the field (which was only scary if you were afraid of accidentally running into snakes, but that was just a story there were no snakes) and then make their way onto the giant pile of rocks and rubble. It was probably left when the people did construction work to build the houses.

There were sewer pipes made of stone that also were just sitting there, so one would climb on the pipes, being careful not to fall in case there were snakes. And just almost skip into the clearing. Because it was a line of forest, the entire tree made a half-circle indent in the woods. It was honestly really cool.

We all would stay out there for hours, and climb the tree (watching for spiders, of course) and making sure not to stay out until dark because there was a family of coyotes that lived just behind us.

I remember one time where we had all thought we had lost my little brother. He was only a year younger than me, so it wasn’t like he was four years old. But he came back with bucket. We all tilted our heads. He said he had to go. After that (which is kind of strange) he kept the bucket and stuck it in a crack in the tree’s trunk in case he ever had to again.

At another point in time, a dude (we’ll just say his name is Teagan) had taken down all our stuff, and tried to put in stuff of his own. It was him and a couple of his friends, and they were all older than us so it wasn’t like we were exactly powerful. We almost had this game of tag, where one would put down the other’s stuff, and build of their own. Eventually Teagan gave up, and we thanked the stars.

It was our place. We could get away from school and our parents and just people in general. We were only about eight or nine, but we really liked this place and called it our second home.

Then the government decided to build in the field (which sorta makes sense, I mean, people need houses to live in) , and suddenly there was a circle (or cul de sac if you wish to get technical) and the road I was on led to a dead end intersection, so they extended that road to meet with one on the other side of the addition. This just blocked the field on the right entirely, and the field behind us was suddenly gone. (We had taken a four-wheeler back there one summer because it was kind of a hilly, rough terrain so one time I almost made us flip over. It was good times)

Since then, we haven’t been able to get back because we can no longer find the right landmarks to get to that particular tree. And I moved about a year after 40 minutes away anyhow.

But the railroads here work, and every time I hear the train I am reminded of what used to be, and while the tree may be torn down, the memories will never die.

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