A Million Words

Broken love

Eli and Alissa sat peacefully on the highest branch of the old oak tree on the hill above the park. They looked down at the streets below, It looked almost as bad from up here as it did down there. They could still see the broken windows and graffiti-covered walls, they could still hear the fights that were silenced by the sound of sirens, they didn't know if it was a police car or an ambulance or both. 

They had been doing this same thing for six years now. Ever night since they were eight they'd come up to this very tree and watch the world go by. It was their only escape nowadays, their homes weren't like homes to them anymore. 

Alissa's mum had her when she was fifteen, she was disowned from her family and left to care for Alissa by herself. She tried her best to keep things afloat but as the bills came in, the money flew out and without any family to support her. The little girl that she was needed something to ease the pain so turned to the same remedy as too many others. Now she's stoned and drunk almost every night and her baby girl is her punch bag. 

Eli's mum killed herself when he was only a little boy after his custody battle didn't turn in her favor. His dad brought him up well and went on to marry another woman who became like a mother to Eli. Then Eli was gifted with a little sister who he loved so dearly but she developed cancer three years ago and between hospital appointments and jobs they had to put Eli on the sidelines. Now he comes home to an empty house every evening and takes care of it, putting all his problems aside because no one is there to listen.   

Their home lives were bad but their school lives weren't much better. 

Alissa was such a bright child, she could have easily gotten herself some scholarship for college and gone on to change the world with her clever ideas and outside the box thinking but as the years went by her mother began to hit her harder and it started to show. Alissa knew that if people found out what was happening she'd be taken into care. As bad as her mum was to her she could never bring herself to get help. So Alissa began to get into fights so that she could blame the bruises on that, anyone who looked could have seen that that wasn't what was really go on but you see, no one was looking. Everyone was happy to give the girl from the "rough" estate a bad reputation and Alissa was happy to take it. 

Eli, on the other hand, wasn't so bright it wasn't that he was stupid or anything he just couldn't seem to learn things, in particular, reading and spelling. He was good enough at maths and that kinda thing but his inability to read always held him back. He was bullied for this until Alissa fought them off. He had always been an outstanding singer and songwriter but school never picked up on that.

They certainly didn't have it great but when they were sitting up on the highest branch of the big oak tree on the top of the hill above the park, it didn't seem to matter. School or home or anything else that was going on didn't bother them. When they were together it seemed like the world stopped for them, just for that hour or so they felt free and happy. 

Eli knew for as long as he could remember that Alissa was the one who he wanted to spend his life with but never said anything because it had never felt like the right time to.

As Alissa and he began to mess around and he saw Alissa bright-eyed smile it finally felt right.

He looked into her green eyes that sat on her freckled face surrounded by her long thick brown hair that sat on her broad shoulders and she looked into his blue eyes that sat on his tanned face with his sand-colored hair half covering one of his eyes that lay above his skinny body. It just felt, right. 

They leaned in and kissed the lips that had been waiting for it their whole lives, waiting for love and now they had it. 

Love found it the ruins of there souls that might just have the power to rebuild its home. Love they had made without knowing what love was. Love they had kept through pain and fire. Love that could only be described as, broken love.