Imagine...

Imagine, just for a moment.

You’re sitting at a wooden park bench at the top of a small hill overlooking a city.

A tree, several metres tall, stands behind the bench – providing shade and comfort for all those that sit underneath.

You look up and gaze at the thousands of leaves rustling in the breeze. The sun is shining with the backdrop of a vivid blue sky as you feel the cool breeze blow through.

The path is adorned with hundreds of small colourful flowers, enticing its visitors with a sense of beauty and peace.

As you’re sitting there, you notice the tranquil sounds of a small river flowing just down the other side of the hill. You hear small birds chirp and sing while the waters give life to the array of flora surrounding its banks.

You breathe in – and close your eyes.

Breathe out – and open them.

That bench you are sitting on has seen the proposal of a couple just last week – a moment filled with love and tears, of joy and hope.

It felt the sorrow of a widow whose partner had recently passed. This was their ‘spot’, as they would come here and enjoy their precious moments together.

That runner who needed a breather and a drink of water stopped here briefly to refuel and to take in the beauty of the hill, while training for a marathon.

The small child and their grandparent, sitting at the park bench eating an ice-cream while laughing and smiling at the amusing shapes the clouds would make, as they blew across the sky.

The simple moment of reading a book in the midday sun as people walked by.

The two mothers who stopped here to talk while their babies slept in their prams and caught up on a week’s worth of stories.

And now, you. You’re sitting there. Thinking about all the countless stories this bench could tell if it could speak.

Imagine, just for a moment.