The Perfect Pear

"I don't want to lose you" Ivy sighed.

"I'll come back to visit you." Harper smiled.

Summer break had almost ended and Harper was due to return home within the week. She closed her hazel eyes and embraced the fresh atmosphere; the gentle breeze caressed through her brunette hair.

"Harper! Dinner is ready!" Her grandmother called from across the paddock.

Harper gripped the pear-filled fruit basket and skipped towards the cottage. She stopped to glance back at Ivy who stood vacantly next to the lone pear tree, her azure eyes resonated loss.

"You're not going to lose me, okay." Harper proclaimed.

Ivy watched Harper disappear inside; the amber porch light flicked off. Her only friend was about to leave the farm and return back to her mother in the city. Grief clutched Ivy as she vanished into the twilight evening.

The soft sun peered through the sheer ivory curtains and radiated a golden glow into Harper's bedroom. Birds sang in the garden outside her window; she stretched out across her satin sheets. The moment of peace came to a sudden halt as arguing bellowed from the living room. Harper paused before she slid out of bed, wrapping herself in her cotton robe. She opened her door and glanced down the hallway in search of some clarity.

"I don't think it's a big deal, Samantha!" her grandma shouted down the phone.

Harper crept closer to listen in from the hallway entrance.

"Good morning, my little ray of sunshine!" Her grandfather startled her with a pat on the shoulder. "Come with me." he continued.

Her grandfather led her outside, his furrowed brows swept over the luscious green field.

"What is it, papa?" Harper frowned.

He settled down onto his weathered rocking chair.

"You know your new friend Ivy?" he asked.

Harper nodded in confusion.

"Well, your mother is worried that Ivy might follow you back home and cause trouble. Your grandmother and I have tried talking to your mother, but she insisted you leave tonight," he explained.

"What!? But I still have a week before I need to leave!" Harper protested.

Anger bubbled inside her. How dare her mother judge Ivy, she hadn't even met her. Harper tightened her robe and stormed down to the pear tree where Ivy sat reading.

"What's wrong, Harper?" Ivy closed her book.

Harper paced momentarily before she replied.

"My mother wants me to stop seeing you... she doesn't want us to be friends anymore."

Ivy stood up, flipping her sandy locks over her shoulder. She reached out her hands for Harper to hold.

"I'll always be here for you, nothing can change that." She shrugged with confidence.

Harper wanted to believe her, but doubt lingered inside her soul. Flashbacks rolled out like a film, visions of laughter, and playful moments captured her thoughts. She dreaded leaving Ivy, suddenly a plan invaded her mind.

"Come with me!" Harper lit up. "We can catch the bus back to the city together."

"Do you think that'll work?" Ivy hesitated.

"Well once you're back in the city, it'll be hard for my mother to turn you away." Harper expressed with conviction.

"Alright, only if you're sure about this" Ivy swayed reluctantly.

Harper grinned like the Cheshire cat.

The girls snuck in through the laundry door and darted into Harper's bedroom. Harper began to stuff a black rucksack backpack with essentials. Ivy hovered near the open window.

"Harper, honey. What are you doing?" Her grandmother asked from the doorway of her bedroom.

"Oh, I'm just packing my things." She replied promptly. "I was thinking I might just catch the bus back to the city, that way mom doesn't have to drive all the way out here to pick me up." Harper pulled her best poker face.

"Oh, alright then..." Her grandmother raised a single eyebrow as she moseyed away.

"Phew... that was a close one." chuckled Harper.

Harper scanned her room in search of Ivy, but she was gone. Harper shrugged then threw herself on the bed gazing up at the timber ceiling fan. Before long Harper's eyes shot open, she had fallen asleep. She strolled out to the kitchen where her grandfather lounged back with an earl grey in one hand and a newspaper in the other.

"Enjoy your nap, buttercup?" her granddad looked over his thin-rimmed reading glasses.

Harper detected a sweet aroma coming from the kitchen.

"Yeah... hey, what's that amazing smell?" she skimmed past his question.

"That's grandmas famous pear pie you've always wanted to try." Grandpa glanced back to his newspaper.

"Ohh my gosh! Can I take some for Ivy too?" Harper locked on the freshly baked pie.

Her grandparents exchanged a look of concern as her grandmother placed a sudsy plate in the dish rack.

"Of course you can, darling." Answered her grandma.

Harper grew a smile and headed outside with two slices of pie on a paper napkin.

"Should we be worried, John?" Her grandmother wiped her dripping hands down her floral apron.

"I don't know, Julie... perhaps it's just a phase," he suggested.

After all, it wasn't normal for a teenager to have an imaginary friend. Harper had told her grandparents she met Ivy shortly after she arrived at the farm, she had caught her stealing pears from their tree. Never had they seen Ivy though, all they noticed was Harper talking to herself by the pear tree each day. They wanted to believe it was temporary, but perhaps this was something more serious.

"Harper, honey!" Her grandmother squinted out into the dark horizon.

No answer. Worry began to kick in as she continued to call out for her granddaughter. She bustled around the house in search of Harper but she was nowhere to be found.

"John! Harper's missing!" Julie wailed.

"What?" John jumped to attention.

They grabbed the massive flashlight from under the kitchen sink and explored their property. The night air grew crisp as the stars appeared and panic had set in, surely Harper wouldn't have left without saying goodbye. Julie called Samantha and informed her of the situation.

Headlights pulled into the gravel driveway, Harper's mother had arrived swiftly. The car door flung open, still in her work uniform, Samantha bustled up onto the front porch. She knocked hastily on the metal-framed fly screen.

"Harper?!" John eagerly moved toward the door.

"No, it's just me, dad," Samantha revealed.

"Hi, love... We've looked everywhere, I'm at a loss as to where she could be." sighed Julie.

Samantha informed her parents that Harper may have an undiagnosed mental disorder according to her symptoms and they needed to find her immediately. Julie and Samantha took John's two-tone 1970s Ford pickup truck around town leaving no stone unturned.

"Where could she be, mom..." sobbed Samantha.

"We will find her, darling." Julie turned the truck around at the edge of town.

They made their way back to the farm; disheartened. Samantha dropped out onto the dewy grass and started toward the house when she noticed a familiar sound. She cocked an eye into the pitch-black landscape and switched on her mobile torchlight, and followed the sound of quiet chatter.

"Please be Harper, please be harper..." She repeated under her breath.

Scanning the scene, she spotted Harper lying under the pear tree. She raced over to her daughter and checked her over, she was safe. Harper smiled up at her mother.

"Mom, what're you doing here?" She slurred.

Oblivious to her condition; Harper followed her mother inside and settled in for the night.

Harper woke to the robust essence of crispy bacon and coffee. The sun glared into her room, she buried her face into her firm pillow and let out a groan.

"There she is." her mother greeted her.

"Mom! When did you get here?" Harper's face shot up.

Her mother positioned herself at the foot of the bed.

"Do you remember anything from last night?" Samantha placed a hand on Harper's leg.

"Not really... should I?" Harper grunted.

"Your grandmother and I were worried sick, we drove all over town looking for you."

Harper found humor in the situation.

"I was with Ivy last night," She swept her hair off her face.

Displeased by her daughter's complacency. Samantha gathered Harper's belongings and informed her that they were leaving immediately.

"We need to get you help before school goes back" demanded her mother.

Harper appeared puzzled.

"I don't need help, I'm not crazy!" Argued Harper.

Samantha didn't listen, she packed Harper and her belongings in her low black sports car and returned her to their home in the city. Head on hand, Harper pondered out the window, why was her family so adamant she had a mental disorder. Even though no one saw Ivy all summer; she was real according to Harper.

A few days later, Julie picked some fresh pears when she spotted a silver flask behind the pear tree. She unscrewed the lid and took a sniff; as the pungent smell of alcohol wafted out.

"Who does this belong to?" She turned the flask over to see 'Ivy Williams' engraved on the back.

She double took the name as John's voice rang out from the porch.

"Hey, Jules! There's some girl here asking for Harper!" He stepped back inside.

Julie was perplexed. There stood a young girl, wavy blonde hair with piercing blue eyes at their round pedestal dining table.

"Hi, I'm Ivy... I've heard so much about you guys. Is Harper still here by any chance?" Ivy inquired.

Julie and John looked at each other in disbelief, they had it all wrong. The phone broke the tension, Julie answered promptly.

"Hello?"

"Hey mom, it's Sam... Harper saw the psychiatrist and he gave her the all-clear, weird right? I was thinking of sending her to see someone else, she is still adamant that Ivy is real."

Julie froze, she was speechless.

"Mom?"

"Sorry, I'll get back to you..." Julie hung up the phone.

"Please, have a seat, Ivy." John gestured toward the seat across from him. "So where you from?" he tapped on the blue cotton placemat.

"I live with my dad on the property next door." Ivy shuffled back into her seat.

"Huh... how is it we've never seen you before? Julie chimed in from the kitchen.

"I usually keep to myself, my dad's a bit of an alcoholic so I kinda fend for myself." Ivy bit her thumbnail. "I just don't really like hanging out with adults; no offense," she explained.

The dots started to connect. Though it didn't explain why Harper was talking to herself near the pear tree.

"Can you believe we thought you weren't real..." Julie laughed nervously. "We saw Harper talking to herself at the pear tree quite frequently."

"Ohh... I told Harper that if she spoke to the pears, it would make them taste sweeter." Ivy giggled.

They all laughed. Julie then stopped briskly.

"Wait a minute, why do you have a flask with your name engraved on it filled with alcohol, young lady?" Julie crossed her arms in disapproval.

Ivy confessed that she would take liquor from her dad's cabinet and stay out late drinking once in a while. The pieces came together, the night Harper vanished, she wasn't missing, she was out drinking with Ivy. That's why she was spaced out and didn't remember anything the next day. Harper didn't have a mental disorder, she was simply a teenager.