The sun. A scorching glow in the sky, able to kill and yet it provides life. We are now well into this, my first dreaded Summer, and my tip has already begun to yellow. 

Several shadows passed by. The creatures they belonged to were... Multiple colors, large, and insanely noisy. Clearly Humans, specifically the subcategory known as 'children'. This particular activity appears to be one called 'tahg', which is characterized by much running around and screaming. Someday I will understand the purpose of this ritual. Someday.

"Are you doing it again?" Callaghen. The bane of my existence. They might have been tolerable in another life, one where we didn't share roots. Or where they hadn't been around for three summers already... Now that I think about it, three Summers means three Snows, and the Snows are supposedly deadly. So I suppose we can add liar to the list of things wrong with them.

I let a few seconds tick but before responding. "Oh, I'm sorry, Callaghen. I'm just not sure who you're talking to. You're gonna have to use their NAME." I did my best to make my rustling as smug as possible.

"Fine, 'Rick'. I'll use your name-thing, as long as you stop admiring - and imitating - the Humans." 

"I would, but they're just so interesting. Way better than any of us," I curled our roots, "and infinitely better than you."

Their stalk went rigid. "Fine, whatever. Do what you want." Malice, and the slightest bit of pain, cracked through our roots.

My chlorophyll dropped ever so slightly into my stem. I tried to shake it off, why did I even care? They deserved to be hurt for everything they'd done to me... Right? All the teasing and constant prying into my business. Yeah, Callaghen was a real jerk.

The light dimmed significantly, clouds covering the sun and cloaking the sky in an almost greenish grey. The Children moved into their structure, known as 'ome'. Seconds ticked by. Wind began to whip us all around, gentle at first before picking up. It began whirling at speeds I'd never felt before, even seeming to warp the little light that remained with the clouds taking over the sky.

A bright flash, which only made my chlorophyll sink further, echoed across the sky. The flash was followed by a sound so loud it shook me more than the billowing wind.

A drop of water hit my brittle tip, taking it off in one clean sweep. I curled at the fire that flared from where it had been. This was almost as bad as those times the Humans used their contraption to cut us down. 

Callaghen rustled, "calm dow- everyth- be okay." The wind made it hard for them to get even a few words out, and it was even harder for me to understand. "We- -it thr- worse." Even though the words were just bits and pieces, through our roots they tried to send serenity and a general sense of calm. Amongst it was a small bit of... Something else. Something that struck me to the core and made me feel smaller than an ant. 

"What's going on? Since when-" another flash interrupted my rustling, revealing the wind in the distance had curled and taken form. The brief flash made it appear to be the beginning of a pillar of clouds, a mere half-line on the horizon. 

Another flash, the pillar gone now. The rumble of the former flash finally catching us. The latter rumble was only seconds after that.

I couldn't control myself, the wind buffeted me to and fro every time I tried anything. This was definitely worse than the Humans' contraption.

The wind, impossibly, managed to whirl even faster than before. I found myself pressed into the dirt, quivering with every fiber of my being. I felt a bug foolishly crawl atop me, only to be swept away.

Flashes of light revealed the storm in tiny pieces. Another pillar began to form. So much closer. Too close. I wanted it to go away, but it didn't. It whirled and whirled, closing in on the ground. It traveled at speeds I couldn't even comprehend, destroying everything it could. The ground rumbled as something landed next to me, embedding itself deep enough into the ground to graze our roots.

The wind kept getting stronger, pushing and pulling so hard I thought I would tear apart. But after a split second...

...It stopped. A calm moment in the center of this raging storm.  Only a split second of relief from the rushing wind and pelting rains, although the crackling noises still remained.

That moment ended all too swiftly. The winds and rains returned with stronger force than ever before, tearing and pushing so hard I thought I would snap in half. Yet I didn't. 

I didn't hear it, I barely noticed it when it happened. There was no light to tell me what had happened, but I knew. Our roots suddenly felt empty. The presence that had always been there ripped away, riding the wind to who-knows-where. I kept searching. They had to still be there, right? They had made it through thick and thin, they had been in a storm like this before, so they had to be fine.

And yet, they weren't. 

Slowly, the storm left us - left me. I found myself wishing that it had taken me with it, at least I wouldn't have been left here alone. 

The Humans began cleaning up, removing rubble on the ground. They even got the board that had landed next to me. They had such control over the situation, and were so prepared for the recovery. 

All I could do was hope Callaghen's end was quick, and maybe - just maybe - they'd grow back. I just wish I could say that was enough.