The Pear Tree

A simple thought glides sweetly through the dark depths of my imagination when I see them, a simple piece of who they are, how they become a part of me when they’re gone. A truth as immortal as the ends of time. Something told to us all in fairy tales, when the princess gets the boy or how the heroine saves us all from despair.

The simple thought… “They will change the world and woe become whoever gets in their way.” It’s very clear when you see it, the girl at the bus stop caught your eye, the boy dancing in the rain by himself, the popular clique sharing their favourite meal and of course you.

We all stand for a difference in this world, I just happened to be stood by the bench when she did it. I thought we’d agreed it was only till they stopped us, till they found us there, the ice block stopping us from falling off the edge. Little did we know at the time, with patience the ice will melt. Too stupid to be hero’s and too young to be wise, we were to be the ones who would save the world, not shatter the reality it gave me.

We planted it where she lay or where we were to both lie, but until I could, it would stand there. She always said we would change what we were, and she did change me when she left. I was stuck at the bench with my hope around my neck and my thoughts in my hand. I don’t know how I missed it, why I couldn’t move, couldn’t scream, shout anything. Terror seized my soul that hers was now eternal. The only thing in this world I could fight for had left me staring out over a town of deceit and lies, standing at the bench on the hill near the orchard. It was our favourite spot before the town found us, how we had changed. Our affection was an affliction they said, we fought back, and nobody heard us till she did it.

Why did we have to suffer in a time where silence is a virtue we must sow into the minds of our children, when the world is so obnoxious and loud?

Looking up at the stars as I lie next to her for the last time, the branches of my hope block the perfect view of the sliver of promised silver in the sky. The more I stare the more my vision clouds and the stars seem to glisten, creating a glittering background over my eyes. A view that seems to become well known when I’m alone. Looking to my side I can see her, the smile of a thousand tales, the eyes of a thousand worlds and her words of even more than she had seen. A lifeline when the rocks appeared below the waterfall I was heading towards. The waterfall she can no longer protect me from.

As the air becomes cooler a breeze flows through the branches above me and I see the fruit beginning to bloom, her life for the beauty of what is around me still cannot compare but in her final words she told me to live.

“Look after the world for me and promise me you will always visit where it started”

I had never bothered looking at anything than her but now I can see it, in the subtle bends in the bark, the twists as it grew. This tree had seen more than us and it still stood, bringing with it every year the fruits of our spoils. I see now why she wanted to be here and I promise I will always return.