When I was young, the only place my parents could afford was a house in the middle of nowhere.
My grandfather had some farmland and he was doing nothing with a particular plot so he gave us the land for free.
There were a lot of things I missed out on growing up out there.
I never really got any experience with talking to people or with life in general.
To say I was sheltered was an understatement.
The only good thing about living out there was being surrounded by a tantalizing tapestry of nature.
On one side were fields of golden wheat, my favorite color and the reason my grandpa bought the land.
On the others were forests, I loved how the trees changed during the year. From a stunning wave of emerald green to an eclectic collection of ruby and amber leaves that eventually became barren in winter.
When spring rolled around, my favorites started to appear. Young saplings taking over where old trees fell.
These were the ones I identified with the most, young and so inexperienced to the world you could see the green still peeking under the bark.
Before I could defend myself, I tried to defend them.
I climbed the tallest trees and trimmed them so sunlight could reach all the trees.
I thought if they could grow, so could I.
If they could stop being green, so could I.
I remember going back shortly after I won the gold medal, seeing those young saplings grow like I did and replace the ones that fell before them.
I thought we had done it.
I was wrong, only they did.
You weren’t the only one here that’s been called TGK, just replace generation with green.
I was just like you.
I came here after a big event.
People loved me the moment I got here.
I won the rewind championship, lost it real quick to a religious man, then took it back from him.
I even had my blood drawn by the same man enamored with God.
I see too many parallels between you and I to even count.
The only difference is you’re still green.
Those all happened my first time around here and if you don’t know how that ended, there’s a tombstone that tells the story.
Until you’re saved, I don’t want that to be your fate.
Learn from the former sapling who has replaced the giant redwoods as the oldest one here.
Stop hanging around people who only steal the spotlight from you.
Like any plant without sunlight, you’ll stop growing.
You’ll wither and perish as so many others have here.
You’ll get broken by a world stronger than you or simply give up before you can grow.
If you want to be a tree that actually makes a sound when it falls, you’ll have to be able to live without them.
If you can’t, you soon won’t only be stuck in the eighties, you’ll be stuck in the ground.
Another member in a forest of lost potential.
Forever planted, never to bloom.