Fallen

• Siobhan Thomas, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2010

It was a tepid spring night when I came.
I was spindly, with arms the size of twigs. They planted me in a snug spot, nestled in between a tall fig tree, and a barbecue.
Across the yard, I saw her.
She was an apricot tree, like me, and she was amazing. Fig Tree said she’d been here longer than all of us. Tall, chunky, long limbs sprawling across the yard, taking up all the available space. From the first sight, I loved her.
Summer came, with swelteringly hot days, and restless nights. Fig Tree sheltered me with her leaves. I saw Apricot Tree grow green lumps that turned orange. Fig Tree said they were apricots, and the humans would pick them soon.
Autumn followed the summer, and I dropped my leaves. Fig Tree dropped hers, each one landing softly on my head before rolling down my shoulders and sliding to the ground. Apricot Tree was the last to drop hers. But they were lovely, turning crimson, carroty and saffron, before withering to coffee on the ground.
Winter was bitter. Fig Tree sheltered me with her bare limbs.
But Apricot Tree just stood there, tall, thin fingers stretching to the darkened sky.

Years passed, and I got taller, towering over the barbecue, and then Fig Tree. I now had to bend down to look her in the face, but I didn’t care.

In my seventeenth unforgiving winter, a bitter storm blew through the yard, ripping into trees and tossing plants aside. I huddled into Fig Tree and she whispered it would be okay. I knew what a winter was like, yet not one like this. I huddled closer to Fig Tree and attempted sleep.

When I woke up, I nearly screamed.
Fig Tree had told me that Apricot Tree was sick, and had been for ages. All of her had died, except for one branch, which supported a mass of leaves and branches that bore fruit in the summer. However, in last night’s storm, Apricot Tree’s living branches had collapsed, and lay in a defeated heap on the ground. Fig Tree leaned over and told me that in the high wind, Apricot Tree’s living branch that held everything up had snapped and split, causing it to fall.

It was a sad day for trees everywhere, the day Apricot Tree was returned to nature.
The next day, the humans brought out a new, apricot tree. It was so small I called it Little Apricot Tree. I sent it a message telling it all about Apricot Tree. I heard the humans saying they hoped Apricot Tree might sprout, and I asked Fig Tree about it.
She said if all the trees in the yard sent Apricot Tree some of their Life Force, then she might have enough strength to survive. So I told Apricot Tree that she was great once, and she could be great again easily.
And I swear to my grave that I felt a glimmer of hope.