The Cherry Tree

Dear Imena,

There's a trail on the outskirts of the Kingdom that connects my division to James's. Since the Academy we attended was closer to his division, I would take that trail to get to school. There was a cherry tree that marked the half way point between our divisions. The Vail is a strange realm, obviously, life can thrive there. Almost any species of plant and animal can live in the Vail. But this cherry tree was strange, because it was the only one that grew without the hybrid's help. Years ago, when that trail was used more frequently than it is now, lots of cherry pits were planted in that area. Only one tree actually grew and survived. Obviously one tree couldn't provide a whole lot of cherries, so now cherry trees are grown in a controlled environment by hybrids, and the strange lone beauty of a tree was left to its own devices.

James used to meet me at the tree everyday on my way to school, and we would walk the rest of the way there together. Then, on the way home, he would usually walk with me to the tree, then we would go our separate ways. After graduating from Academy, James and I started using the tree as a meeting place when we needed to talk about something or for more scary situations.

Though we were only about twelve at the time, in the eyes of our hybrid society, we were basically adults. We could get jobs, move out, and possibly even get married (the traditional process of marriage can take anywhere form months to years). But in mine and James's case, we were apart of a Council that dealt with adult things like war, money, and death. One day, we had agreed to meet at the cherry tree to talk, and I brought something to James's attention.

"What if something bad happened to one of us? What would the other one do?" I asked him.

"Why? Are you planning on getting kidnapped?" James joked.

"Well, no. But my job is extremely dangerous, with all the arrests and powerful people I deal with, I could go missing." I said.

James thought about it for a minute, "Well, I guess if the most powerful being to have ever lived gets kidnapped, that means no one is safe."

"I got an idea. Let's make a deal, if something bad happens and it's not completely clear if we are dead, the first person had three days to make it to this tree and meet the other person. If the first person doesn't show up after three days, the second person can do whatever they feel they need to do to get the first person back." he said, "Hoe does that sound?"

"I think that's a great idea."

So it was decided, that was our plan. On top of that, we still met at the tree just to talk or hang out for a little while.

A few days after I started dating Milo, I texted James and asked if he could meet me at the cherry tree. He said he would be there in two minutes, and considering that my castle is about five minutes away from the tree, I had to run there so he wasn't waiting alone for too long.

When I got there, James was already there and I took a minute to catch my breath before telling him about Milo. I told him everything; how we met, how he came to my house and kissed me, and homecoming. After I was done telling him about it, I waited for him to say something.

"Well, are you happy?" he asked.

"Yes, unbelievably." I said.

James shrugged, "Ok. I guess I like him then."

I smiled, and changed the subject since I had no more to say about Milo. We talked for a few hours before heading home. James recommended that I called Jay and talked to him about Milo since he would be upset that he wasn't the first person I told. So when I got home, I called Jay, and he was not happy that he wasn't the first person I told. But, he was happy that I was happy, and he was more than happy to talk about Milo for hours with me.

-𝒮. 𝑅𝑜𝓈𝑒