A piece about growing up written by 13 year old Stella.
I remember sitting on my bicycle. It is a bright summer’s day at the park near home. The trees rustle with a light breeze. I ride over the short-cut green grass trailing in the tracks of my father and my brother and my sister. My mother lays out a picnic, watching us. My bike is bright pink with pom pom streamers that hang from the handles. A small basket sits in front of me, carrying my favourite bear. I am wearing a Winnie the Pooh helmet. The training wheels titter as they spin. I am the happiest little girl.
We walk up the steps to the playground following the well-worn path to where two swings dangle. My brother and sister hop on, swinging back and forth, gaining momentum to reach the highest branch they can. I still need my dad to help push me. I am starting school soon. It’s near to here. I can see it when I peer through the trees. I wonder what it will be like.
Two years have passed. My dad tells me I am ready to take off my training wheels, but I feel like they are a part of me - I can rely on them to keep me safe and balanced. They are gone the next weekend. I push forward and my feet begin to move. I pedal faster across the park. I am in control. My hair trails behind me and my smiling teeth get cold from the wind, but I keep going.
There’s five more minutes until the bell. I’m in English, learning about adjectives. With my friend, we bike together to the playground. We get to be by ourselves. On the swing, I touch a branch with the tips of my toes. I have grown. This park is my favourite place. I swing and think about all the adjectives I can give it: peaceful, pleasant, pretty…
Time flies by and I’m in year 6. I’m told the news that we’re moving house. I explore the new suburb, only to see schools, shops, and stylish houses. No park. The closest one is the Auckland Domain. And it has no playground. I don’t have my bike and there are so many people roaming the paths. I see a big white building in the distance, surrounded by grass, pillars and lots of parked cars. On the grass there are Pohutukawa trees twisted in their own ways. Nature is weirdly wonderful. I climb across one of the trunks, shaped like a rainbow then continue walking, to discover the Museum and Winter Garden. I examine all the historical artefacts from foreign places inside the museum, while learning new things. Inside the Tropical House, the warm air wraps gently around the lush foliage. Each flower, each petal is filled with such beauty and delicacy. My eyes follow the goldfish, darting from one point to another in the sunken pond. They are also so strange, but wondrous.
The Domain is so big it also holds the Chinese Lantern Festival every year. I go with my parents and see it light up with a vibrant glow, the vivid colours of my mother’s Chinese culture exploding like the firecrackers that will follow. I love the Dragon that represents strength and the calligraphers who trace lifelines in fine black inks on rice paper.
I no longer need the speed of my bicycle, but when I close my eyes, I again feel the wind against my face, blowing through my hair. My wheels have stabilised me, growing up, but I don’t use my bike to take me places anymore. I use my shoes and feet to guide me. I can walk to school so close, I can walk to the train station to go to church, I can walk through the suburbs and see the colours of my community.
Auckland is filled with so much wonder, I know, I’ve seen. Climbing mountains, I bring my small dog, Minty, who barks and runs in circles, mad with excitement. I can see the whole city laid out beyond and below me, spreading to the far distant sea. I feel as tall as the Sky Tower piercing the clouds. Sometimes, when I see young kids with their perfect bikes or with their Peppa Pig scooters, I feel my childhood again, coming back to the present, however I am 13 now.
My surroundings connect me to the outside world. My surroundings spark thoughts and ideas, inspiration. I’m so happy I have gotten to grow up in this lovely community. Besides the house I live in and the school I go to, this is what makes Auckland my place of belonging, my identity, my home. I hope I will travel far but I know I will always return home here to where my seeds have been sown and will continue to grow through the cycle of life.
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