Kim Scissorhands and Edward Boggs

Chapter Fifteen: The Tree

Edward and Kim strolled along the neighborhood streets, with unusually large rainclouds keeping them cool and everyone else inside. Window shades fluttered then and now. This caused Kim's heart to race even more. Edward saw this and assured her that everything would be alright.

"Where are we going, anyway?" she asked.

"Right here," said Edward, turning left towards a large willow tree; it bordered a tranquil, steel-blue pond, which danced softly in the light rain. The sight was alleviating.

"My brother and I used to come here all the time when I was younger," Edward explained. He led Kim by the swaying willow, into the dry interior underneath. There was an apparently abandoned bench, bicycle, and phone booth all under the tree, much to her surprise. It looked like it hadn't been touched in years. They sat on the bench, and Edward spoke.

"My brother and I first came across this place when we were avoiding some annoying neighbor girls, many summers ago. It used to be a total swamp back then, so no one ever came over here..."

Kim relaxed her eyes and lay her head carefully against Edward's shoulder. She imagined every word he said as if it was the world's bestselling masterpiece. Edward paused for a moment in surprise, but then resumed his story.

"...even back then, this bench and the phone booth were kind of old. We thought it was fascinating, so un-Suburbia. So the two of us would come back, every so often, as a place to read comics, hide our ice creams from the sun, test our model airlines, and so on. It was nice."

There were two boys. A younger version of Edward and a smaller, similar boy entered the obscure little space. Both of them were on their bikes and out of breath, the taunting sounds of girls far in the distance. Their innocent faces were suddenly filled with curiosity as they observed their surroundings. They left and returned a moment later with comics, sundaes, paper planes. The two boys faded from vision and Edward's story continued.

"But of course things couldn't be perfect forever. There was a time in my life when I couldn't get to be with my brother. I was depressed. I would come here all of the time, and eventually I got better. I should have" – he pointed to the bicycle – "gotten rid of that."

Kim looked over at the rusty vehicle and she understood. It must have been the brother's.

Something about the anecdote made Kim nervous, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She knew herself what it was like to feel alone and isolated; perhaps this uncanny familiarity is what caused her to feel strange.

"I liked that story," Kim told him at last.

"Thanks," blushed Edward. "Hell, you must think I'm the biggest loser in Suburbia. I'm not, I swear. I don't know, there's something about you, Kim, it just lets out my sentimental side."

"I understand," she uttered quietly. "I've only known two emotions myself: sadness and joy. However, being around you feels like a thousand feelings that I can't even name."

"Yeah." Edward tried to avoid eye contact out of shyness, a totally alien concept for him.

Kim thought his immature silliness was cute, and said, "Edward, look at me."

They each stared into each other's eyes, and immediately began to think of all the limitations: the family, the girlfriend, the friends, the neighbors, the reputation. Edward sacrificed all of this in a simple sentence.

"I love you."