Querencia Draft

During a typical, sunny afternoon in the Philippines, I either had the choice to: 1. Have my nannies play tea party with me, 2. Go over to my neighbor’s house to play doctor with me, or 3. Lay down on my hammock in the garden. I looked up at the clouds, and I decided to visit my grandmother’s garden.

            I walked through the path that led me to the garden, and on the way, the sun beamed on a spider web so intricately designed, I wondered how spiders manage to make such a thing. It almost looked like a castle. After watching that inch of a spider create it’s food providing home, I decided to walk on towards the garden.

            It was absolutely beautiful. Sunbeams hit spots of the garden that wasn’t hidden by trees that surrounded it, there were different fruits and vegetables, bushes with little specks of red, pink, and white flowers, and right in the middle of the garden was a hammock that my grandmother had bought for me as a welcome-home present. I lay down on the green, red, and white net hammock, and looked up. Above me were the highest points of a mango tree, with little green mangoes peeking through the leaves, and the cloudless sky. The wind chimed through my hair, and as I closed my eyes, I heard rustling. I quickly sat up and saw my white, curly-haired dog. I picked her up, placed her on my lap, and swirled her long hair.

            That’s when I realized that the garden was my special place. I can’t fly to the Philippines everyday, which is why I think it’s special for me. And I think it’s better that way, so that once I arrive at the Philippines, I know that I can spend some time alone in my own little sanctuary.