My sweet tree boy

"It's so loud down there. I wish I could tell them to be quiet." 

I ran my finger across the carpet. I started thinking about when I was little. How I'd hide out here for hours while everyone played outside. I wanted to play with them but I was scared. I was scared of them.

One day I gained enough courage to ask a group: if I could play with them. They said no. They thought I was disgusting because I stayed up here all day. Then they started spreading rumors about me. Saying that I didn't know how to speak and that I was in love with a tree.

In all honesty... I think that this tree was the only other being I ever loved. Not romantically of course, but as a friend. No one else ever talked to me-not nicely anyway-so I would talk to the tree. Sometimes when the wind blew I thought the tree was talking to me. Comforting me as I cried again in the house between its branches. I once had a name for the tree. Eventually, I forgot it when I moved away. I'm house-sitting for the summer. This tree lives about a mile into the woods behind the house.

"It's been two years. I'm sorry I left you. I just had to leave. Get a new start. I hope we can become friends again." I paused. Hoping that the wind will give me the tree's answer. Like how it did when I was little. No answer came. "I must be crazy. A tree for a friend?" The treehouse groaned. "You know, coincidences like that, made me think you were sentient."

I took a book out of my bag. I started reading where I left off. For some reason, I found it hard to read. It was as if my mind was preoccupied. I set the book down and started thinking out loud.

"I wish I remembered your name. At least then I could pretend I was talking to a person." There was a deafening silence.

"Luca." A whisper brushed across my ear.

"Luca... my sweet tree boy."

I closed my eyes. Thinking back to the countless memories of this treehouse. Reading books, watching movies on my phone, making-and failing at poems, and talking to Luca. The friend I made inside the tree. Once again I wondered if I and the tree could be friends again.

"I would like that!" A bright voice interrupted my thoughts.

I screamed. I opened my eyes and scanned the room. No one was there. I must've misheard the wind. I almost believed that the tree could talk.

"Ok, Mr. Luca tree thing. I should probably get back to the house. Preferably before you talk to me again." I started down the ladder. "Bye."

"No! Don't go." Someone grabbed my wrist. I jerked my head up and gasped. "Please. Not again."

"Who-wh?"

"Are you staying?"

I stammered, "I-i don't..."

I was looking at a boy. He was beautiful. His face looked like the depiction of nature. Soft and beautiful in some areas, but sharp and determined in others. 

His outfit was out of season. He had a limited edition jacket on. It was from a boy band I used to like. He had jeans on that were similar to my dads. He looked at his shirt and I did the same. His shirt was a graphic tee that said Rage On.  

He picked his head up. His green eyes met mine.They were speckled with blue. A color that reminded me of sadness. I Hoisted myself back into the treehouse. Looking closer at his face. The chocolate undertones of his skin blended into the mocha highlights seamlessly. His hair was wispy and thin just like the leaves outside. I stood up. He did the same. He was a full head taller than me. It surprised me because few people around here were taller than me.

He pulled out a piece of paper from his pants. It unfolded it and turned it around so I could see. It was a drawing. A memory flashed through my mind. I was talking to the tree-Luka-and I wanted to draw him as a person. I did. This is that drawing. I buried it at the roots of the tree.

'I don't understand? Did you dig that up or something?"

"What? No. You gave it to me."

"No, I didn't. I would've remembered giving a drawing to such a beautiful boy." I blushed after realizing what I called him.

He laughed. It was a sweet sound. Like wind chimes. "Thank you, Clara. Although I would've thought you'd recognize your creation."

"What? I didn't create you? I'm not old enough to have a sixteen-year-old boy."

"You're right. I'm nineteen!"

"Nice, I'm older than you. I'm twenty."

"Really? You always seemed way older than that." I glared at him. "Wait, that came out wrong, I meant-"

"That's fine. But seriously... who are you? I buried that drawing, yet you said I gave it to you. I don't remember being friends with you either."

"Didn't you say that you wanted to be friends again earlier?" He cocked his head in confusion.

'I was talking to the tree. I didn't see you here." how'd he even get in here in the first place?

"Yeah, I know. You asked if we could be friends. Then you wish you knew my name, so I told you. I'm Luca. The weird tree thing as you put it."

I stared in silence.

"Ok, I'm crazy. First I tried talking to you even though I knew you wouldn't respond. Then I thought you answered. And now I'm hallucinating you to life. Is this what heatstroke is like?"

"No, no, and no. You talked to me in hopes that I'd answer. I did answer and I'm here. I took the form of the drawing you gave me. See?" He pushed it closer to my face.

I looked at the eyes. Sure enough, they were green with blue. Although the blue in the drawing was lighter than what was in his eyes.

"The eyes are different."

"Gotta have some room for improvement you know." He shrugged.

I looked behind me. The sun was starting to set. "I really should get back. After all, I am getting paid."

He grabbed my hand again. "Please stay. Don't leave me again. It's been so long."

"Let go. You're freaking me out."

"Not if you're gonna leave. You moved away for a while. I promised myself that if you ever came back I'd try and get you to stay. I was so sad... but I couldn't cry. I just stood here. Unable to move. Then you came back. You were finally talking to me again." His eyes started watering. "I could finally answer you. I could finally touch you. 

A rush of heat flooded to my cheeks. He stroked my wrist with his thumb. This was sounding similar to those romance book confessions I read. 

"I could finally... truly... actually... be your friend." 

"R-right. I was thinking the same thing."

"Really? That's great!"

I don't know why I believed him. I don't know why I stayed. Or continued talking to him. Or like talking to him. But... I didn't want to leave either. As we talked the light outside dimmed.

"Luka?"

"Yes, Clara?

"It's getting late. I should leave."

He sat up straight. The desperation showed as he said, "No." 

"I have to: It's getting late."

"Di-did I bore you, Clara?"

 "No. I loved talking to you about what's been going on in my life. And about the things you've felt and seen in the past two years. This tree must be hundreds of years old so I don't know how you're nineteen. If you are the tree that is,"

"Because that's how old you wanted me to be."

"I guess so." I petted his head. 

His hair was fluffy and soft. You'd expect it to be tangled but there were no knots. I laid my hand flat against his head. He leaned into my touch. Then he brought my hand down to his face. It was resting on his cheek. It was warm and soft. I panicked and tried to get my hand back. His hand didn't let mine move.

"You're not gonna let me go are you?"

Right before all the lights disappeared he smiled. "Nope!"

"Well, now it's too late to leave. I guess we're having a sleepover. You can let go of my hand now." He moved my hand off his cheek. "Thank you." He intertwined them together. I groaned. 

Every time he did something like this. My face and ears got all hot. I thought I got over my shyness but there was something about him. A breeze drifted into the treehouse. I shivered quietly. He scooted closer to me and hugged me. This time I didn't try to move him off. Instead, I hugged him back. His arms wrapped around me. They were securely holding me against him. He smelt like pine and earth. 

He leaned backward and we fell to the carpet. We held each other close to the other's body. We laid there listening to the woods. The owls hooting and dogs howling. The occasional rustle of leaves. Each noise calming a nerve. Each breath sinking us into sleep. A moment like this... wouldn't ever be forgotten.

When I woke up I was alone. His jacket was wrapped around me. A reminder where his arms were. Getting up, I looked on the ground below. He wasn't there. I called out his name. 

"Luka? Are you still here?"

I heard one last whisper. "Goodbye." It rang out just like his laugh. 

I laughed and started to cry. "Goodbye... my sweet tree boy."

 One tear fell onto his jacket. then another and another. I crouched down and hugged the jacket. It still smelled like him. Even though I missed his smile. I wasn't sad. I was happy. Happy that I got one day with my tree. Happy I had that one moment. That one moment before he left. 

The end

 -By: Rose S.