Solitude brings reflection, and reflection brings understanding about oneself. I have poured many thoughts, hopes, and tears into the soil at J. B. Williams park during the accumulative days I’ve spent there. A beautiful park about a mile from my house, it’s a place I go when I feel the need to deal with the troubles of life. I would always go by myself, never wanting the companionship of others. Most times I went to the park to escape from them.

However, there was another pair of feet walking beside me as I entered my sacred park one day. Her dark blue Converse shoes stepped through the rich May soil, and a light breeze gently sent her bright blue skirt swirling as our hands clasped tighter. We made the small hike to my favorite spot in the entire park, and I laid down in the soft grass by the pond, her head resting comfortably on my stomach. The babbling stream echoed our conversations, and her head lightly bounced as we both were laughing. I was laughing. I was at my park, with another person, a girl even, and we were laughing. The warm sun smiled down upon us.

“What are you thinking?”

The sweet voice took me by surprise, and I realized that there had been silence. I looked down at the girl, in my park, and her baby blue eyes looked right back.

“I’m not sure,” I answered her. “Did you know you’re the first person that I’ve ever brought to this place?”

“No, I didn’t,” she giggled. “But I’m glad that I’m here.”

“Me too…” I sighed, with a smile on my face. I was glad she was here.

My eyes gazed at the trees above, the web of wisdom that stretched across the clear blue sky. I caught sight of a single leaf that suddenly was plucked from its branch and fell, fluttering through the air. It landed smoothly on a rock embedded in the ground, a few feet from my head.

I was that rock. Stubborn and lonely, my life had been changed from the act of a single fallen leaf. This girl was my leaf, the spark that ignited thoughts to fill my head. Was it really doing me any good to block myself from the outside world, away from others? These trees and ferns and squirrels, this forest that embraced me as its friend, why was I so set on experiencing it alone, to be selfish and keep myself apart from people? Solitude may lead to understanding oneself, but it is through companionship that we allow ourselves to grow. We intertwine our lives, who we are, and we create our own web that not one person alone could make. One tree can be beautiful, but creating a forest is how life thrives.