Evelyn Zhu

Evelyn’s story aimed to explore the challenges of growing up through the protagonist’s interactions with the landscape as a place that is paradoxically harsh yet beautiful. This piece engages with key aspects of the Australian identity – a deep connection with nature and the freedom to chase individual dreams.

A Contemporary Australian Experience

The hike wasn’t as difficult as Alex remembered. Then again, it had been years since she had last been here. She took her time walking up the meandering bush track, savouring the feeling of sun-baked leaves crackling underfoot. Gusts from the sea pulled wisps of hair from her ponytail. As she walked, Alex pictured her destination in her mind. It was a lone red gum at the top of the headland. It towered loftily above the clearing, like a proud sentinel. One gangly branch dangled over the edge of the cliff. Alex used to climb the tree and creep down the branch, until her mother’s berating or a sudden lurch sent her scuttling back to the safety of the sturdy, grey trunk, like a soldier crab to its burrow.

The thought of her younger self made Alex chuckle lightly. She would never do something like that now. It was far too risky. What if the branch snapped? She would plummet, then crash onto the jagged rocks waiting below. Alex felt her breath quicken just picturing it. I have nothing to worry about, she thought to herself. I’m not climbing any trees anytime soon, and my life is under control. She had a stable job as a marketing analyst and a great salary. By all standards, she was doing well. Yet every morning, something in her stomach would drop when she arrived at her white desk. Maybe it was the perpetual drone of the air-conditioner hammering into her skull, or its frigid drafts that somehow felt stifling. Alex sighed. She didn’t like thinking about it, or the bone-deep ache of regret that lingered from when she declined the Conservatorium offer years ago. No, she reaffirmed to herself. I am exactly where I should be. Finally, Alex reached the summit of the headland. Panting, she scanned the clearing for the red gum. Alex gasped. “Oh no…” she breathed to herself. She took a few uncertain steps forward. “This can’t be real,” she muttered, shaking her head slowly. The red gum had fallen. Its roots had been brutally torn from the earth, leaving a gaping maw in the ground. Bushes and shrubs were crushed beneath its limbs, and its leaves had withered into husks. The tree was dead. It was merely a hunk of wood clinging onto a rock, devoid of life. Alex clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a sob. She sat on the trunk and noticed a burl jutting out of the tree. Memories began to flit through her mind, like muddy sediment swirling in a creek after a storm. She remembered it all so clearly. How she would step on the burl. How she’d always climb to the top. How safe she felt in the canopy, like the tree was enveloping her with its branches. The whole world seemed to unfold before her when she was so high up. It was an expanse of blue peppered with white crests on one side, and green forest stretching as far as she could see on the other. Alex felt tears well up in her eyes. She missed it – sitting in the tree, tracing lackadaisical shapes on the bark, and simply existing. She missed being as carefree and untethered as the ocean breeze. Alex bowed her head and kicked at the dusty ground. She wished she could undo the past few years. She could feel another life calling to her — the thrill of blinding stage lights, thunderous applause, and the smooth piano keys under her fingers. She realised that she wanted to climb a tree. It seemed like such a stupid idea, but now she couldn’t stop thinking about it. Across the clearing, she spied another gumtree. It wasn’t quite as tall, but she already found herself scouting for handholds. Alex stood up. She could feel her heart pounding while her mind muttered to herself. She used to climb so often. Had she lost even that too? She reached up with her right hand and grabbed a branch. She pulled herself up and carefully placed her foot onto a knobbly burl. She gradually put more weight onto it and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t slip. Alex kept climbing, much more slowly than she used to, but eventually, she felt the noose of fear loosen. When she reached the top, her hands were slick with sweat, and she was out of breath. She perched precariously in a fork in the branches and looked up. The blanket of leaves swathed her in dappled light. She grinned and whooped loudly. She knew there would always be more trees for her to climb. For now, she was content to just breathe, in and out, just like the tide. •