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📖✨🍃 “Welcome to the house of Hearst. Tell me what you seek, because we have everything; warmth, serenity, togetherness, and many more. What’s that? You want to visit our treasured treehouse? Why, sure! Let’s go to the backyard.”

Hearst: Love from the Treehouse.
Written by The Hearsts.
     

   
Chapter 4: Get Familiar with the Family!

For brambles and greenery to effloresce perfectly, a devoted endeavor must be put into place. Plenty of time and energy are sacrificed, especially when it comes to growing a huge tree. Not merely it needs complete dedication, but also consistency, hard work, and most importantly—endless love. The Hearsts has a testimony: they began to grow their own tree, precisely in the back of their house on February 28th, 2023. The journey was indeed not a cinch. They had to face lots of quandaries during the experience, be it dealing with the stormy weather, turbulent wind, or the unexpected appearance of animals that they found hanging on the branch out of the blue one day.

“But a year has passed,” Jesse continued the story. “And, as you can see now, our tree has been growing so well—it has a strong trunk and branches that it can hold an actual treehouse on top of it. It can fit up to five people! Not to mention the swing underneath it, which my younger siblings really love to play with. Crazy, isn’t it? Now let’s climb up. You’ll love the inside of our treehouse.”
   

   
“Jesse Brother?”

“Eyis, Abbie,” how it became no surprise to see both of his sisters up there, each holding a doll. “Don’t mind us. We’re just going to do some quick tour here.”

They nodded. As the girls continued playing, you followed Jesse going over each section of the treehouse. There was nothing much on the left side of it—since it was just a little desk hanging to the wooden wall, but according to Jesse, it’s precisely where the eldest ones love to hang out. They sometimes work on a task, or simply grab a cup of coffee to unwind. The middle part of the treehouse is where you would stumble upon the little ones; it’s a huge shelf filled with dolls and a great selection of books.

“Hearsts are just in love with the idea of reading books on sunny afternoons, especially when we have so many things to read,” Jesse reached up and took one thick, blue-covered book from the upper side of the shelf. “But since you’re here to get to know the family, this one might pique your interest. Shall we go take a look?”
   

   
“Now you might be wondering what this book is all about, because, I swear to God, it’s thicker than my school assignments piled up,” Jesse began to flip through the book. He ended on the fourth chapter.

“Oh! Our book!” exclaimed Abbie. She pulled her sister’s shirt to come over to Jesse and seemed to be patiently waiting for him to read the story. It has always been her favorite book anyway.

That made Jesse let out a giggle. “You’re right, Abbie. This is our book. It’s called Story of Hearst, written by every single member of the family. Let’s read the fourth chapter, shall we? But before that, let’s get to know each person residing in the house of Hearst first and foremost. To know how good the story is, you must first get acquainted with the author, no? Well, in this case, the authors.”
   

    
MEET THE MOTHER OF THE TREES: She was the one who planted the seeds and took care of it since day one. Now, she’s in charge of being the guardian for the whole family.
    

  
On one fine, sunny day, the backyard where the Hearst children love to come out and play was looking very empty. It was just all green—coated with the dense blanket of lush grass. She stood on the back patio one day, looking at her children playing beneath the sun, while thinking at the same time, “How could I make their playtime better than just being on a plain field? It’s rather inconvenient for them, considering the rays and breeze can go straight into their skins.”

As an idea popped up on her mind, she quickly removed her apron and grabbed her tiny notebook where she keeps track of everything. This time, instead of writing a long to-do list and house bills, she drew a rough sketch of a tree. A big one. It wasn’t anywhere near perfect, but she was satisfied with her very own idea that she wrote her watermark underneath it: RACHEL-ANNE HEARST.
  

  
IF ART WAS A PERSON: First sister of Momma that loves to engulf herself in books. Aside from being good at writing, she’s also the one Hearst children look up to when they need great advices.
  

  
Coming home after a long day of work surely is frustrating to some people, and that includes no other than Hearst’s hardworking aunt, Marian. She decided to treat Hearst children some sweets today, thinking it could possibly sweeten her day as well. Carrying a huge bag filled with candies, she opened the front door just to find Momma frowning while looking at her note book in the living room.

“Sis? What’s wrong?” Marian asked. She took off her coat, grabbed a seat next to her, and caught a quick glimpse of what her sister had been doing that entire afternoon. “A tree? That doesn’t feel right.”

“What’s on your mind?”

“Here,” without a single doubt, she took Momma’s notebook and pencil, taking her turn to add something and complete the idea. Her sketch was just as rough as Momma’s, but it was clearly a depiction of a house—placed above the trunk, beneath the close-packed leaves.

“This would’ve been better, especially for the children,” she said, giving the book back to its owner while putting her coat on. On the upper left side of the coat is written the name of this ingenious lady: MARIAN MERSAULT HEARST.
  

  
THE AUNT WHO BLOOMS LIKE A FLOWER: With her fairy-like appearance, she is much loved by the children, especially the younger ones. She really knows how to sweeten every moment!
  

  
What does a college student like her possibly need during the daytime? That’s true, a cup of refreshing iced coffee, straight from the brewer. As soon as her class ended, she picked up her phone and dialed her sister’s number.

“What? You can’t?” an emotion of sadness swung by her face, knowing that her eldest sister were unable to go out and give her some company today. “What are you doing then? Are you—huh, you’re planting seeds, you said? You’re out of your mind, Rachel Sis.”

She was kidding. It’s common for sisters to say those things to each other, right? So then she went to her sister’s house, discovered that her sister was actually occupied in the backyard, planting what she called ‘a tree’ seed at one point. Of course, Cecilia was confused with this whole situation, but she decided to put away her tote bag that her college books ended up scattering the place, just to help her sister. One book opened its first page and revealed her name: CECILIA ESMAE HEARST.
  

  
HIS SOUL IS AS SWEET AS A BOWL OF HONEY: Hearst’s first born that surprisingly clicks with his younger siblings. He has this bubbly and fun-loving personality that everyone adores.
  

  
It was about time Ginger invited his friends to come over. We’re doing an art project, at least that what he said to Momma the other day, so she allowed it.

On the day his friends came to the house, they chose to work on this art project on the backyard, so that the paintings will dry quicker. They rolled out a giant mat close to the sprout—which Momma planted a while ago—but because it looked quite identical to the grass surrounding it, one of Ginger’s friends almost accidentally stepped on it until he rebuked, “Hold your toe!”

And at the same time, Momma approached them to hand out five glasses full of orange juice. “That was not a big deal!” she reassured. “Gingie, be good to your friends.”

“Oki, Momma,” Ginger smiled that his eyes crinkled, then continued working on his canvas that had his name in the back of it: GINGER VANOWEN HEARST.
  

  
THE NURTURING AND RELIABLE BIG BROTHER: Hearst children call him Yiyi Gege! He protects his family incredibly well thanks to his maturity, but never underestimate his adorable side.