Salt.

If a tree falls and no one is there. Does it make a sound?

August 29th 2005, the day that everything changed, not only because it was the day that hurricane Katrina devastated the world but because a devastating hurricane ripped through my life.

She was 17 when we found out. My little sister's strong facade crashed to the ground bringing everyone she knew with it. Leukemia. she was given 3 years to live. We didn't start noticing the disease until her energy levels began to slump, it was slowly stealing her from us. She couldn't paint anymore, which was the worse thing that could happen to her. I don't know whether it was because she didn't have the energy or because she didn't have the will but to her if she couldn't paint, life wasn't worth living.

when we were little there was a tree in the park that we used to climb. One day we went to the park with a picnic blanket and sun tan lotion, mum had made us. The tree had fallen down that night destroying the house that stood behind it. Turns out it had fallen because of salt. Lots of salt. The ground water had risen and salt had come up with it, it started to slowly kill the tree, this went on for years. But then one day, it couln't take it anymore and just... fell. It's leaves had fallen off years ago one autumn and had never grown back, no one realised it was because of salt! Tiny grains of salt had brought down this massive tree.

The majority of the worlds water is contaminated with salt, making it undrinkable and dangerous. Salt is a tumor, sadness bring salt in the form of tears, salt ruins lives!

Just like the tree my sister will die. Her body, her enemy. She's alone. She made us promise never to visit, she didn't want us seeing her like that. It's been 5 years. She's amazed doctors by surviving so long. She's in a forest, Alone. No one is there to hear her fall.

The council took the liberty of putting up picnic tables where the tree once stood. People eat their lunch, they don't think about the tree. I think about it all the time.

(Taken from a play I am devising at the moment.)