Beneath the Whispering Tree

Salamanca Tree Hiddle, or Sal as her friends called her, sat beneath the whispering tree. It was the same old sycamore on the banks of the winding Euclid’s Creek near her grandparents' house in Bybanks, Kentucky.

She felt her heart beating in sync with the rhythm of the rustling leaves; it was as if the tree shared its secrets only with her. Sal recalled her friend Phoebe, who had always been so intrigued by mysteries, and wondered what she would think of the whispering tree.

While under this tree, she felt close to her mother. Every whispering leaf seemed to carry a memory of her. The rustling sounded like her mother's soft voice reciting the Native American tales about the earth and the stars.

The tree, standing tall against time, reminded her of her father's strength. He, too, was like a tree, with roots planted firmly in their life in Bybanks, despite the disarray brought by her mother's disappearance. Her father had been Sal's rock in the sea of changes, just like this tree standing unshaken by the flowing stream nearby.

One day, as Sal sat lost in the whispers of the tree, an old photograph fell from the crevices of the gnarled bark. It was a picture of her mother looking youthful, her eyes twinkling with unspent dreams. Tears welled up in Sal's eyes as her heart thrummed with longing.

She wondered about the miles her mother had traveled before she vanished. Sal yearned to walk the same moons, to understand her mother’s longing for solace that led her all the way to Idaho. She felt a kindred spirit within her, a restlessness that yearned for a journey of self-discovery.

As the sun's last rays painted the sky, she decided it was time. Time to experience life beyond Bybanks. Just as her mother had, Sal would embark on her journey, a journey to understand the woman who gave her life and the woman Sal may one day become.

Under the whispering tree, Salamanca Tree Hiddle, a young girl from Bybanks, Kentucky was about to step into a journey of thousands of miles, walking the moons her mother had once walked, seeking the same solace, and perhaps finding herself along the way.