Millie's Cherry Tree

The first one walked towards the tree in the early hours last Friday, she was tearful, staring at the trunk in silent regret. She was pretty, curly black hair, dark skin, but had the dullest of brown eyes. Her arm swiveled towards the branches a foot over her head, hand just barely grazing the pink blossoms before a quiet whimper emerged from her lips.

"I'm sorry, Mill. This is the last time I'm coming to this damn tree," She frowned, holding a diploma in her left hand. "It's Michelle if you didn't already know... dumbass."

It was opened and held out, her eyes sweeping over the words on the paper.

"I got accepted into UCLA, can you believe it?"

No response.

"We always wanted to go together, huh? I could swear we would've been on the road and outta' here already without last year's accident, rolling in your trashy 2004 Toyota. I'm sorry it can't be like that."

No response.

"I'm getting outta here in a few days, but I just wanted to say goodbye for what could be last time. Okay?"

The branches moved with a humid breeze, causing a smile to trace the girl's lips.

"Bye, Mill. Hope you're doing better."

The next one that came was just a few hours later, when the June heat had subsided to a cool, windy afternoon. This one was a boy with curly dark hair and a big smile, sodas and a blanket clutched in his arm.

"Hey, girl!" He grinned. "Brought all your favorites."

He dropped swiftly onto the dirt around the stump, cracking open a Dr. Pepper.

"It's Mike. Haven't come in a while, and I'm sorry for that. I just couldn't bring myself to."

No response.

"I hope everything's good, you met some cool dude and hit the road or something wherever you are. If you can even do that, I mean."

He frowned.

"Hope everything's alright... everything's good."

Another boy came on Saturday, but he said nothing. His head simply stared up at the blossoms, which had miraculously survived the summer days. He twisted a twig in his fingers, doing nothing but staring, contemplating, remembering. It was hours before he left, well into the night, where he had said all but three words.

"I miss you."

A day later, on an equally if not more bright day, another girl and a boy came, hand in hand.

"Hey!" The girl called, racing up the hill towards the tree, pulling her hand out of the boy's grasp. "It's Sall!"

"And Josh-" The boy mumbled, quickly interrupted by the girl's frantic excited chatter.

She reminisced all of their times, from freshman orientation five years ago where most of them first met, to only the two girls' first day of kindergarten thirteen.

"We all miss you, believe me!" They're all coming today, one last time for all of us, sis."

She was right, as a few feet back, three people surfaced from the parking lot and walked over to the couple. Michelle, Mike, and the quiet boy, further known as Russ. They poured their arms around each other, watching the cherry blossoms.

"How's the arm doing, Michelle?" Josh quietly asked, getting a hard look from Russ.

"It's fine, would've been better if I'd got to her on time." The girl quietly asked, not removing her eye from the tree. "We're leaving for California tomorrow, huh? Roadtrip?"

They all smiled faintly, wondering what would've happened if she were still here.

Lastly, a few days later, when the group of friends was long gone into the scorching city of California, an older man at last arrived. He came bearing gifts, a flower, a card from his wife, etc. He also held a one-year sobriety chip, brandishing it sadly toward the tree.

"I'm so sorry I did this to you. And I can't say I can come back." He cried, out of what? Sadness? Guilt? Relief? "I'm moving to Canada tomorrow, and I just wanted to show you this. For as long as I stick by it, no one else will get hurt."

He placed the sobriety chip and the gifts onto the ground carefully, remembering what his mistake had quite literally driven him to do.

"It's also one month free, even if I don't deserve it. You didn't deserve it, and none of your friends, either."

He reflected on the impact of his car with another, hardly anything but the glimpse of a Toyota Corolla filled with cheery teenagers, the flask clamped loosely in his fist spilling all over him scrounged from the memory.

"I donated to her family's go fund me a few months back, well- my wife did- for that surgery of hers. That Michelle girl, your friend. Heard she's doing better, her arm's gained almost full movement back." His voice faded, embarrassment filling his already teary eyes.

He took a few steps away from the tree, tilting his head down with long strides back to the car.

"I don't know what I'm trying to prove here, I know it's my fault, and I just wanted to say I'm sorry, Millie Rhoads. I'm sorry, this world would be brighter if you were still in it, and I know it's my fault your not."

And so all of them left, left the cherry tree where their close friend or victim's ashes remained fused to a tree she'd noticed just three years earlier at her grandfather's funeral, a forgiving face watching down at them all.

"I forgive you."

And she did, finally, peace fell over them all, forgiven. The accident, the death of a friend and sister haven came to terms with, it was finally time to move on from it all. Their lives were finally back on track to moving forwards, even if they had been forced to leave behind one of their own.

It was the dawn of a new era for them all, and even without Millie Rhoads, they were all going to be okay, for her cherry tree would always remain, and they were always welcome back, for they were finally forgiven.