The Love Tree

Chapter 7

Allie was sitting on the highest branch - staring off at horizon - as the sun rose in the sky. The sight was beautiful as it was and with her in the picture, it was even more amazing. She looked peaceful, happy, light... and behind it all was the shield around her heart and her deepest, darkest secrets. 

I didn't want to scare her, so I crept forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing Allie to glance up in surprise, startled at my sudden appearance.

A flash of fear flickered through her eyes before she blinked and relief shone there instead.

"Hi." I said and crouched there awkwardly, blushing slightly from embarrassment. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

Allie smiled slightly and patted the branch beside hers in response before turning back to the sunset. 

I frowned slightly at this odd behavior but slid onto the branch nevertheless and watched her as she stared off into space again. 

Finally, the silence became too much and I spoke again "Why do you like coming up here?"

The question came as a surprise to me as I hadn't realized until now how much the answer meant to me. 

Allie sighed and then shrugged, still not opening her mouth to speak. 

"Are you mute?" I asked and realized with a flash of horror how rude that sounded. 

Allie smiled and relief shone in her eyes as she nodded, fueling my embarrassment. Here I was asking a mute girl questions that she could never answer even if she tried!

Allie finally tore her gaze away from the horizon and picked up a small whiteboard that was sitting on the branch next to her. 

"HI." She wrote.

"Hello." I said, smiling. So this was how Allie communicated with people! Good to know...

MY NAME IS ALLIE TRINA HIGGINS.

"I'm Adrian James Clarkson." I said, continuing the one way conversation.

I'M SIXTEEN YEARS OLD.

"I'm seventeen."

THIS TREE IS MY TREE.  

This sentence came to a surprise for me. I hadn't thought she had remembered my previous question.

MY MOTHER'S MOTHER'S MOTHER'S MOTHER PLANTED IT TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO FOR HER HUSBAND.

I nodded in understanding and watched as Allie quickly erased the whiteboard to write the last part of her sentence.

IT'S CALLED THE LOVE TREE.

Allie flushed with embarrassment after writing that but I just laughed.

"I like it." I said and smiled at her, causing Allie's cheeks to flush once again and her gaze to flicker back to the horizon.

Suddenly, she frowned and gripped a small book that I hadn't noticed before tightly in her hands. It looked like she was fighting with herself over something she didn't want to say or do and I couldn't imagine what it was. 

Finally, one side of her seemed to win because Allie picked up her whiteboard again and quickly wrote something on it before showing it to me.

I'M MUTE BY CHOICE. 

I shivered slightly as I read and reread it.

"Why?" I finally asked. Why would anyone ever chose to give up there voice? Speaking was a way to express yourself and communicate, why would anyone take that away from oneself on purpose?

MY MOTHER DIED. IT WAS MY WAY TO COPE. Throughout the whole time she had been writing on the whiteboard, I had noticed that Allie hadn't misspelled anything once and that fact seemed to satisfy me somehow. 

But what she had written had finally sunken and I glanced away from her. She had lost someone too, and I had never asked her about it. Sure, I had noticed that Allie didn't seem to have a mother around the house but somehow I hadn't even considered the fact that she was dead. 

"Listen. I'm sorry." I finally whispered.

I KNOW. YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO TRULY UNDERSTANDS. THAT'S WHY I TOLD YOU.

I smiled after she wrote that and nodded. 

"We should be friends." I finally said and Allie smiled a beautiful smile. 

YES. LET'S BE FRIENDS.

And it might have been my imagination but I could have sworn I heard Allie whisper the word 'friend' into the air before turning away from me and staring back out at the horizon...