The Oak Tree

A large oak tree stood in the middle of a large, ever growing field. Branches were long and thick as if they could shade out the whole valley. Leaves reflected the light like mirrors in the broad daylight. Small wildflowers were  spread randomly around the valley. Its roots came up out of the ground, and fell down deep under the soft soil.  It was just a normal oak tree, but it was also so much more. A place to escape, relax, explore, find inspiration, but most importantly to find love. Deep connections under the warmth and comfort of the tree. That is where Autumn and Tristan met two years ago, and where they continue to meet every single day. 

           Autumn sat against the bark of the tree. Her auburn hair and hazel eyes matched with the subtle scenery of the area. Light brown freckles covered her cheeks. Life wasn’t a struggle for her. Instead it was merely a gift with every new day. “I want to grow old and connected like the roots of this oak tree.” Her soft smile gleamed like the beaming rays of sun. 

         “Am I included in this dream of yours?” Tristan smirked and shook his head. His fluffy brown hair was bouncing from the gust of wind. 

       Her gray cottage style dress unfolded as she stood. “Well of course you are!” She rushed past the tree out into the light. Bowing her head down to watch her step. He couldn’t quite see what she was grabbing from his angle, but from the way she started to run back he assumed it was another one of her games. “Now make a wish,” she handed him a white fluffy dandelion with a long stem. 

“Don’t tell me you actually believe in that cliche wishing stuff. Blowing on a dandelion won’t make anything come true.” He held the plant in his hand. The wind seemed to have died down a little. Tiny spores on the ball of the dandelion stopped straining to stay on. 

“Oh come on. There is no harm in having a little bit of hope.” Her pupils dilated as she knelt closer to him. Almost like a puppy dog would beg to its owner. “ Please?” 

“Alright, fine.” The dandelion in his hand formed a new meaning. It now represented faith, but not just any faith, her faith. If she believed then maybe he should too. 

“Good. Close your eyes.” Autumn demanded. 

            She stared at him with intent until he finally caved in. Everything closed around him. Sucked into an endless void. He thought hard about his wish. Out of everything in the world that he could have wished for. She was the only thing that actually meant anything. Tristan was sure that Autumn would’ve had some poetic way to say it. Although he didn’t feel that it needed much complication. He cared for her and only ever wished that she would be ok. 

Tristan blew hard before opening his eyes. Light slowly entered back into his pupils. All of the fuzz on his dandelion was gone. He glanced over to Autumn who had a droopy look on her face. “What's the matter?” 

“I have one seed that didn’t blow off my dandelion. My wish was never complete'’” she took a deep breath and sighed. Looking forlornly at her plant.

“Well. I think that just means you haven’t used your wish yet, and when you blow that one seed off then your wish will be finished.” He was desperately trying to cheer her up. Technically he didn’t really believe in the wishing in the first place. He just liked that it made her happy. 

“You think so?” Autumn perked her head up in response to what he had said. 

“Of course,” He remarked, taking her left hand with his right. 

Autumn nodded and held his hand with a gentle grasp. “I will save my wish then” She clipped her dandelion onto the small top pocket of her dress. The pocket was so small she had to fold the stem in a zigzag pattern to make it fit. The one fluffed weed peeked out of her shirt. 

“Shall we head off to town now?” He inquired, grabbing his navy colored jacket and standing up while still holding her hand. 

“Oh yes. We need to get the relic to the pawn shop in town to sell.” Autumn stood up. Coming a few inches shorter than he was. 

Tristan ruffled her curly hair before leading her off through the valley in the direction of the main road that led to town. When they made the small hike through the wooded base to the main road it was mostly empty. Except for a white, two story house with polished wooden trim and a fence pattern on the bottom half of the first floor walls around the whole house. There were four windows in the front of the house and a glass sliding door in the back. Along with a thin window on either side of the front door. Vines crawled up the outer walls, blooming with pink trumpet shaped flowers. The front yard seemed as if it used to be a garden, but the ground and plants were ill maintained by now. Almost covering the small red for sale sign that was speared into the ground. 

He had his eyes set on this house long before meeting Autumn. There was so much potential to the house despite it being worn down. What he loved the most about it was the fact that it was more isolated. Farther away from the harsh judgment of society. Although he never actually had a desire to buy it because of how big the house was. Certainly he didn’t need all that space, but now he had someone to fill it with. 

They both continued to walk the main road. That's when a rustling came from behind them. A wooden cart hauling various bags carried by horse. The man driving the cart looked old. Wrinkles covered his whole face except for around his eyes. He had dirty blonde hair that was waving in his periphery, and a dirty blonde mustache that was so thick and furry it practically covered the bottom of his nose. 

The two young adults looked at each other for a moment. “Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” Autumn asked with a cocky, yet upbeat tone. Furrowing her eyebrows.

Tristan just nodded and gripped autumns hand tighter. Once the cart passed them he started to run, getting faster and faster until his legs could hardly keep up with each other anymore. When he managed to get only a few feet away from the cart he launched Autumn up into the air at full force. She grabbed the wooden edge and stabilized herself on the tiny ledged platform. Tristan continued to run. Autumn held her hand out for him to grab on to. Reaching out as far as she possibly could without falling off. Adrenaline surged through his veins. He just wanted to make it to her, but she kept fading farther away. One leg after another, dirt made small clouds of dust off of his shoes. Finally he got a hold on Autumn's hand. She helped him up onto the cart. He couldn’t help but gasp for air. The fresh gusts of wind from the movement helped a bit. 

Autumn smiled and hung from the back of the moving cart, whooping and cheering as its wheels turned. 

“Autumn. Be quiet. The old man is going to hear us,” He ducked down and pulled her close to him. Wrapping his arms around her in an attempt to not be seen. 

“I’m not deaf you know. I can hear what you're saying, and I'm not that old. Only thirty” The old man exclaimed in a raspy voice. 

“Thirty!?!” The two of them both yelled at the same time. They didn’t mean to be rude, but his age caught them both off guard. The man didn’t look anywhere close to thirty. Fifty at least. 

The man scoffed at their comment. “Yeah yeah whatever.” 

Autumn giggled and continued to hang from the cart. Tristan didn’t try to stop her now, knowing that there wasn’t much chance he would try to throw the both of them off. Tristan however didn’t necessarily want to be seen. He stayed in a crouched position with his hand hanging onto the cart. That was where he stayed the whole entire time until they made it to town. 

The town was a large place with stone buildings that pillared towards the sky. Most of the buildings were shops that had apartments above them. Vague signs were placed strategically so one couldn’t exactly see what shop was where, mostly to trick travelers into staying longer and buying more things. The pawn shop was the hardest to find out of everything because it had no label or sign to convey what building it was in. Shady deals went on in there. It was better to stay inconspicuous. 

“Do you want to split up and look for it?” Autumn inquired, “We could probably find the shop faster that way.” 

“Yeah that seems like a smart idea.” He nodded and pointed to the lane behind him. “I’m going to look this way.”  

Autumn agreed and they both went their parting ways. The town was like a maze this time of year. Roads were vastly decorated with different eventful concessions and games. People were rallied around everywhere. So crowded that those on horseback could hardly get by. He held his hood close over his head. Paying attention to even the smallest cheap gum wrapper that was dropped on the ground. His shoes crunched against the crumbs on the cement pathways with every step he took. A stand with a red sheet held up by wooden poles wasn’t that far ahead. Little crafting trinkets were set up on its shelves. Spanning from painting supplies, to wood making tools. I should get something for Autumn. He reached into his pocket and pulled out three coins. It wasn’t much, but enough to get her something small. Approaching closer to the stand he came to a halt. Taking notice of the paper on the wall nearby. A wanted poster, his wanted poster. For stealing the relic a week ago. He had to be faster about what he was doing. “Hey! What are you doing!” someone yelled from the crowd. Trisan grabbed the paper from the pole and folded it into his pocket. 

“It’s the criminal!” A lady screamed at the top of her lungs pointing at him. 

He grabbed an item from the stand without paying and dashed around the corner before anyone could yell any more or do anything about it. His heart felt as if it was pounding outside of his chest.. All he could think of was finding Autumn before he was reported to the authorities. The midway circle was his target. It connected all the roads in the middle of town. If he could make it there before authorities then he could get out with Autumn. He just needed to find her. 

Tristan got pulled back by his collar. He almost screamed. This was it he thought. Until the dress flowed around his ankles. He felt as if a heavy boulder was pushed off of his chest. “Autumn?” He whispered. 

“I’m here, but the authorities have already blocked off the gates out of town.” 

“What do we do then?” He slipped deeper into Autumn's comforting arms. Her words drifting into his head yet he couldn’t seem to listen. 

“I know a secret way out” She led him over to a large fence that went up the second story of two buildings. Pointing to a thin gap between the wire. “I can’t fit through, but you can. They aren’t looking for me so I can make it through the main gates” 

Tristan furrowed his eyebrows and cocked his head. “Are you sure?” His voice was shaking just like the leaves shook in the wind when they were back at the valley. 

“I’m sure” Autumn gave him a kiss on the cheek, then rushed him to leave quickly before it was too late. 

Tristan crouched down. Dirt covered his hoodie and pants. He pried the cut of wire open, beginning to slide himself through. His hands clawed at the earth. Continuing to pull over and over. Soil started to build up under his fingernails. Almost there. He was almost out when his jacket got caught on the fencing. Loud noise started to creep closer to their location. 

“I will meet you at the oak tree,” She unhooked his unzipped jacket and unraveled it from his arms. Taking it and leaving with haste after making sure he had gotten through. 

He had to walk down the main road on the way back. It was around around ten minutes that had gone by when Tristan got to the valley. He hoped that Autumn would be back soon. Walking was becoming a bore. The wind’s howling made him want to shield his ears and bury himself deep under the ground. Eventually he gave in and sat down on the grass. 

A single dandelion seed landed on his shoulder.  Something inside of him shattered. The relic was still inside of the coat. It wasn’t any normal dandelion seed, it was her dandelion seed. He just knew that it was. Warm water streamed from his eyes. Everything went blank, he was trapped in a void, yet his eyes were wide open. The wind wasn’t grating anymore, just as the tree he had returned to didn’t feel the same without her. In the end it was just a tree. One that held her vow, her gaze, her touch. One that shared her joy, her peace. Tristan had made a promise to stay at the tree and wait for her, even if that meant he would die waiting.