Describe a place where you spent a lot of time as a child

The place where I spent most of my childhood afternoons was the courtyard behind my grandparents' house. They lived in an old district of Bukhara, in a one-storey house with a large shared yard, and my parents used to leave me and my sister there every day after school because they were both working.

The yard was surrounded by a high clay wall, and in the middle there was an old mulberry tree, which was the heart of everything. In summer, my grandmother would spread a carpet under it, and we would have lunch there, drink tea and eat sweet bread. Around the tree, there was a small vegetable garden and a few flowerbeds. We played endless games there, such as hide-and-seek, football with a deflated ball and a game with stones that I can no longer remember the name of. Other children from the neighbourhood often joined us, and sometimes there were twenty of us running around. When it was too hot, we sat in the cool corridor and listened to my grandfather telling stories.

The place was important to me because it gave me a feeling of freedom and security at the same time. I could play without any worries, and there was always someone who loved me nearby. Many of my closest friendships began there, and my respect for my grandparents grew from those afternoons. Sadly, the house was sold a few years ago, but when I pass the street, memories come flooding back. If I ever have my own house, I would love to plant a mulberry tree in the garden.