Acacia ' s Journey
International School of Nanshan Shenzhen , Chia , Jocelyn - 15
Her mother named her after a beautiful tree she grew up with . She told her stories about her time spent reading her precious novels under the tree and when times were tough she would just sit there and everything would come to ease . Every night before she fell asleep her mother would tell her “ Acacia Verlaine , when I ’ m with you , all of my worries would be forgotten . You are my safe place , I love you ”. Acacia never understood the importance of that tree and all she knew was that her mother was the most beautiful woman on the planet . She would make a big deal over her name . Acacia wondered why “ Mother ? If my name has a special meaning , then what does your name mean ?” “ You are a very smart girl ; my name is Lucerne . It was given to me by your great grandmother . She would tell me that I would bring light wherever I go . She was right , you are my light .” That was Acacia ’ s fondest memory of her mother ; all Acacia has left of her are memories . She likes to hide out there sometimes , when things were rough because her mother was her safe place . Acacia never let go of the fact that she is gone . Day after day for 2 years she would desperately ask her father “ Why ? Why did she have to leave ? Why didn ’ t the hospital save her ? Daddy …” Her father was devastated when his wife died but he had to be strong for his daughter . So since then her father would cry quietly in his room as he stared at pictures of his wife . These of which Acacia didn ’ t know about . He then whispered , “ I don ’ t know honey , I don ’ t know …” Acacia has finally fallen out of her daydreaming as her father yelled “ Acacia ! Come on get out of the car ! I can ’ t make it to work on time if you don ’ t get out !” Acacia rolled her eyes in disgust and annoyance . At some point , she knew she had to get on with the day . She slowly slides her way out of the car and slammed the door shut , it even gave her father a shock . She slowly and carelessly walked towards and through the school ’ s entrance . She never cared about the students that would make jokes and laugh in their little groups nor did she care about the boys that would stare at her and make mean comments . She looked like a mess , she has looked like this for two years already . Every day she would wear a worn out grey hoodie matched with black ripped jeans , her shoes were black with scratches and torn holes in the sides . Her appearance meant nothing to her . She slowly managed through the day , it then came to fourth period . She would sit at the most back of the classroom with her hood up and just not bothering to listen to anyone . The teacher had called for her to answer a question she didn ’ t hear . Therefore , one girl with long dreads screams across the classroom “ Hey ! Girl with the dead mom ! Your turn to answer !” This immediately grabbed Acacia ’ s attention . She felt a mixed of emotions , she didn ’ t know if she should pluck out this girl ’ s eyes or run out of the class and cry . She chose to storm out of the classroom and instead of crying , she snuck into the art studio and took a few buckets of paint with a large paintbrush . She ran through the halls with lightning speed and went to the school ’ s main entrance and doused the whole wall with paint , the walls were filled with splatters of colorful paint . Minutes after , Mr . Kenyatta the school ’ s principal caught her and brought her to his office . She sat impatiently outside his office as he called and brought my father in . She didn ’ t fear anything , she didn ’ t care about the punishment because deep down inside she felt that she had no meaning left in life and it doesn ’ t matter if anything happens to her . “ I hope to see you next time Mr . Verlaine preferably under different circumstances .” Mr . Kenyatta said cheerfully . With a bright smile Mr . Verlaine replied with delight “ You too Mr . Kenyatta ”. After a lengthy talk , her father came out and took her by the arm and dragged her out into his car . He was quiet throughout the whole drive , he didn ’ t know what to do because he knew very well why she is like this and he understood but on the other hand it was also wrong to do what she did . Acacia didn ’ t care about the silence , she enjoyed it . They eventually arrived home , her father quickly brought her in and carelessly shuts the door . He stares at her with anger , disappointment , and pity . After a extensive time of contemplating he finally spoke “ How ? How could you do something like this ? Do you know what I had to put up with for the past two years ! You have been nothing but a burden for me ! You think you are the only one affected by her death ! You are so selfish !” Acacia still couldn ’ t grasp the error in her ways and furiously shouted back “ I am the selfish one ? What about you ? You have never talked about her or even think about her anymore . It ’ s like you have erased her from your life ! I spent two years not being able to tell anyone about this ! Don ’ t you dare call me selfish !” He got so infuriated at what she said , without a second thought he screamed back with all the bottled-up anger “ I love your mother so much , and on her dying breath she told me to promise to stay strong and raise