How to...Get Stuck in a Tree

There are several ways to get stuck in a tree. The easiest way is to simply climb up and suddenly find you cannot climb down because a branch fell off, you’re too scared to go back down, or because you’re caught in the tree. If this ever happens to you, there are several things you can do--try to climb down anyway, jump (you may want to try and jump on something like a trampoline, but that is not always an option.), yell till someone climbs up and helps you, or stay up there forever. If you are planning on that last one, I suggest you bring snacks, blankets and something to do. Choose a tree with several comfy perches and without creatures that bite. Now, I know you are all dying to find out how I know so much about climbing trees and getting stuck in them. It just so happens that I could be considered a tree-climbing expert. I’ve done it for years. I’ve gotten stuck. I’ve also had some pretty dramatic "falling-out-of-trees" experiences. I’ve also watched my siblings in numerous tree-climbing predicaments. My youngest sister managed to get trapped in a tree two years ago. It was autumn and the chill of winter was in the air. My siblings had been rolling in a pile of leaves and then they decided to climb the tree next to the pile of leaves. Things were all going swell until Ellie got stuck. I was calmly called by my brother,  “Summer, Mom needs you to bring her a ladder.” I calmly started searching for a ladder. There was a step ladder in the basement, but I thought she probably wanted the big ladder in the garage. I hunted around in the garage and then walked out into the yard to ask where the big ladder was or if the smaller ladder would be okay. I never really got to ask because Mom started yelling before I could. “Get the ladder! It’s in the basement! Hurry up, you sloth!” She was next to Ellie, who was perched in the first branches of the tree...except she wasn’t. Her knee was jammed in between the two main boughs and she was completely stuck. How she managed to do it is still a mystery. I picked up the pace a little and swiftly brought the ladder. I wasn’t fast enough, and Mom yelled at me to “run!” When I got there, I had more time to examine the situation. Slippers were brought out for Ellie’s ice cold feet. She could now stand on the ladder instead of being held up by my mother. Mom told me to go inside and call my father and inform him that he would have to come home from watching the basketball game if Ellie wasn’t unstuck in five minutes. Dad suggested that we try and pry her knee out with a wrench or a screwdriver. I related the information to Mom and decided to go inside out of the cold. Half a minute later, Ellie had been magically freed. Mom had managed to chip away the bark around Ellie’s knee.The ending was very anti-climatic. I was secretly hoping for a 911 call or at the very least the involvement of a chainsaw. 
I have other tree stories as well--like the time Anna was hanging from her knees to show off and the branch broke or when I climbed up a tree to get a piece of fruit and fainted upon seeing that the branch right next to me was so covered in fire ants that you couldn’t see any bark or when my little brother climbed trees at the age of two and got stuck...every time, but I’ll end with one of my favorites.

All the members of my family agree that Rambo was the best dog ever. He was just so joyful. One of his many talents was his ability to tree people. Rambo’s favorite game was chase. A trail went by our house and was well used. Sometimes, unsuspecting travelers would get worried at the sight of Rambo and try to run away from him. This was a bad idea. If they walked, Rambo would ignore them on the grounds that they were being extremely boring, but running meant that they were up for a chase. One time a boy was riding by on a bike and got so scared when Rambo started to run after him that he jumped off his bike onto a tree. A friend of ours watched the whole thing and laughed her head off before calling Rambo away. Eventually the smart people learned to walk or ride by very slowly, and everyone else found an alternate route. Our trail eventually became more like the road less traveled.

-Summer