Cherry Tree

The cherry's dripped a crimson red, scattering red like droplets of blood through the crisp green trees. The branches swayed lightly in the breeze. The dance seemed almost arrogant as if they knew how beautiful they truly were. The pale sunlight lazily opened her eyes through the cluttering of clouds creating a slight glisten on the cherries. They shone like murderous rubies in the light.

She walked through the vineyard, barefoot squishing the mud between her toes. The confident, bright cherries seemed to be mocking her darkened and disheveled appearance. She stared at them as she walked silently through the garden of cherry trees. Carefully she reached up and touched the leaves of the trees as she walked feeling the tenderness of the veins within them. With one snap or overly tight squeeze she could damage the leaf forever, rip it from it’s comforting place upon the tree. The thought seemed to ease the lingering pain within her.

As she reached up she noticed the shimmering, dark cherries matched the same red color forming clots on her wrists. She reached up and snatched a cherry holding it in her hands carefully. She stared at its beauty with disdain before mindfully and slowly crushing it between her fingers. She held the now flatted and juice berry against the open wound on her wrist, mixing the different shades of red. The feeling stung deep within her arm causing her eyes to pierce with sudden tears. She dropped the remainder of the berry to the ground and wiped her wrist aggressively on her white cotton dress.

The trees continued to sway ever so gently in the morning breeze. The cherries brightly danced and seemed to be laughing at her and her misery. Her eyes darkened as she continued to meander through the thick gathering of trees. She almost felt suffocated by them, even though she was out in the middle of the fresh air of the morning. She reached up and tore another cherry down determined to win this war against the arrogant fruits. She smashed the cherry and drew lines of juice against each side of her cheeks like warrior lines before throwing the remains of the lifeless berry high into the sky. She aimed for the yellow sun who seemed to be unaware completely of her misery. How rude that it would continue to shine so warm and perfectly on such a dreary day.

She felt a wave of anger building up in her. Angry that life would just go on as if nothing had happened. As if this wasn’t a dark day. She started to run, feeling the mud slip and slide under her feet. Several times she almost lost her balance but she continued to run until she was out of breath.

She found an exceptionally tall cherry tree and forcefully decided to climb. She scraped her knee and laughed as she watched the fresh red blood dripped down into the earth below. The rough branch stung her arms and the deep cuts in her wrists but she welcomed it, climbing ever higher.

When she reached the highest peak she ripped off fistfuls of cherries smashing them in her hands and tossing their wasted remains to the ground. She screamed manically as she did so, murdering their beauty and confidence. Slowly her screams turned into tears and she released the pain she had been feeling. She weeped for what she had done and for what could never be undone. She weeped for the darkness that now lived within her. She rubbed the cherry blood forcefully against her chest, willing it to wipe out the stain within her but the scarlet color remained only skin deep.