OLIVO the olive tree

by Beatrice Protopapa, “Antonio Galateo” secondary school, Lecce

Olivo was a large, old, very tall tree, bristling with greenish leaves like spearheads. He was a lonely tree because he stood in the middle of a large meadow, and there was no one nearby he could talk to or laugh and joke with. His only friends were the olives he produced every year, and he cared about three of them in particular: Pina, Tina and Gina. They were unique, special olives, because every autumn they remained on the tree, not falling off like the others. Olivo’s favorite season was Spring, when the green meadow was filled with the colours of flowers, and was warmed by the balmy rays of the sun, when the swallows visited his branches and sometimes built nests where their little ones would be born.

“Ah, how wonderful Spring is!” sighed Olivo.

“I think winter is more beautiful, with its pure white snow,” said Tina.

“The best season is summer, when we finally get a tan,” said Pina. “For me it’s autumn, when the most unpleasant olives fall off the tree,” said Gina.

One day a cat came into the meadow, rolling over in the prickly grass and scratching its claws on Olivo’s trunk. The cat liked doing this, and every day went to see Olivo, who in turn appreciated his visits, since his fur would pick up seeds from which new plants could grow to keep Olivo company. But the months went by and Olivo became sad because no plants had sprouted for him to make friends with. A year went by and Olivo thought: “I mustn’t kid myself; nobody is coming to keep me company”. Even Gina, Pina and Tina, his faithful olives, had left him.

A few years later, Olivo too died, but after him other olive trees were born, and became large, tall and bristling with leaves, just like him.