Prompt: The year is 2035. After a week of high temperatures, the news reports that temperatures will be above 95o for at least another week with temperatures topping out at 100 degrees. The news is also reporting that the air currents that brought wildfire smoke to the area, will continue as well reducing visibility and contributing to an air quality index above 200 for the next few days (very unhealthy, with the risk of health effects increased for everyone).
In my backyard, there’s a hidden oasis. My house, in the middle of Queens, set between a gym and bank, is the only house left on that side of the street. The tall fence they put up when they built the gym is now completely covered in ivy. Next to it, a series of bushes wrap around the edge of the garage, enclosing a little space only accessible by a small opening. Once you set foot inside this hidden oasis, the sun seems to shine brighter than it does anywhere else in the world. My father placed a small bench inside, as this is not a special place only I enjoy. Inside there’s a very small tree that seems to have gotten shorter as I have gotten taller. The tree splits in two halfway up the trunk; its the special kind of tree that is sure to grant a wish if you make it right as you pass through it’s opening. I am now far to big to fit through that opening, but every morning I bring my coffee out to the hidden oasis, I think of all the wishes it granted me as a child. Each spring I admire the pink, purple, and orange flowers that sprout from the ground there, as well as the hanging potted ones my grandmother hung from the garage. There, you are surrounded by the warm smell of the changing seasons and fresh-cut grass. Everyone loves that little place, but somehow I’m always alone when I go there. The various shades of green and shapes and textures of leaves create a cradle of comfort and serenity. Everything is okay there. Hope is found there.