Tree (f)

[Blah!?]

Heeeyyyyy Guuuyyyssss...

Yeah, it's time for yet another story by this crazy person.

I actually started this one a while ago, but I didn't get around to finishing it until now. Yes, it's yet another sappy story, also known as my attempt at cute. Hopefully you'll all like it!

And here it is:

Ron leaned quietly against a large tree in the corner of the park. He occasionally glanced up to watch the other kids playing with each other, but he mostly kept his eyes focused intently on the ground just in front of his feet. His parents always brought him to the park so he could meet other kids and make friends, but none of them seemed to get along. But in the end, Ron was okay with that. He already had a few close friends, and they were more than enough for him. To him, that just made these visits to the park unnecessary, boring and lonely.

Suddenly, the tree rustled. At first Ron didn’t quite notice, as trees tended to do just that when it was windy. However, it rustled again just a few seconds later, more intensely than before. Ron started to look up, but the explanation came to him. Something dropped down just a few inches in front of his face. Before he even realized what it was, Ron squeaked and fell over sideways, the trunk of the tree preventing him from falling backwards.

“Hi!” came a cheerful voice from only a foot or so away. Ron looked up and saw someone hanging from one of the tree branches, mere inches away from where he had just been standing. A young girl, just about the same age as Ron, hung upside down by her legs from one of the low branches, her arms hanging straight down. Her blond hair was too short and messy to hang, so it continued to stick out in every possible direction. The girl’s nose and cheeks were covered with what seemed like hundreds of freckles, making her face appear blotchy in the shade beneath the tree. Ron slowly stood up and approached her, but he didn’t make a sound.

“Sorry if I scared you,” the girl said, still hanging from the tree. She started to sway back and forth, waving her arms slightly. “I’m Quirine. What’s your name?” Ron took another step toward her, but he didn’t make eye contact. “I’m Ron.” He didn’t want to say anything else, but at the same time, he did. “Quirine’s a funny name,” he said, awkwardness weighing his voice down. “I know, isn’t it? My friends call me Q, like the James Bond guy.”

Quirine smiled, scrunching her turned-up nose. “Come on, let’s climb this tree!” She turned over and sat on top of the branch she was hanging from. Ron glanced up at her nervously. “But… I’m no good at stuff like that,” he said, trying to get himself to make eye-contact again. Quirine smiled again. “It’s okay, I can teach you. I’m a pro! But my mom says I can’t climb trees if I’m by myself, so let’s go!” She quickly scampered back up into the tree, far faster than Ron could have hoped to keep up with. He simply stood by the trunk, too nervous and surprised to start climbing himself.

A few moments later, Quirine dropped back down to the bottom branches and held out her hand. “It’s okay, I’ll help you,” she said, trying to make eye-contact with Ron. As much as his eyes tried to avoid hers, they couldn’t break away this time. “I was really scared my first time too. But it’s a lot of fun!” Quirine reached her hand further toward Ron, gesturing for him to take it. Ron paused for a second, but without a word, he took her hand and they began to climb.

Ron had always had a few close friends, but that day he found one who would become closer than the rest. The two of them went back to that tree almost every day to climb it. They would try to climb as high as they could, but every time they’d always settle someplace in the middle to relax. Eventually, Ron and Quirine established a perfect hangout spot inside their tree. Two large branches stuck out on either side, making a perfect place for them to sit and talk. This became a regular occurrence once they had grown too much to fit comfortably into the higher reaches of the tree. For years, Ron and Quirine came back to that tree, but as they grew older, it became less about the adventure and more about being together.

---

“Hey Q, are you aright?” Ron had noticed Quirine rubbing her eyes a lot once they had reached their spot inside the tree. “Are your contacts bothering you?” He wanted to ask if she was crying, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. Quirine sniffed lightly and wiped a tear from the corner of her right eye.

“I think so,” she said quietly, her voice sounding every so slightly strained. “Thanks for the concern.” Ron smiled at her, and she smiled back, her eyes still a little teary. She turned away from him and rubbed her wide, turned-up nose with her index finger, unsure why it was starting to bother her too. “I should probably just wear my glasses,” she moaned, rubbing one eye with her free hand. “How come you don’t?” Ron asked, leaning toward her slightly. Quirine wrinkled her nose and laughed. “Because they make me look like such a dork!” she said, waving her arms slightly. She continued to laugh, but she suddenly snorted loudly, prompting Ron to start laughing too.

“See, you totally are a dork!” he said, leaning toward her again. Quirine gestured toward him as if she was going to shove him. “Am not!” Ron continued to chuckle, but at the same time he was concerned.

He couldn’t quite tell if Quirine was actually crying or not, but if she was, he didn’t blame her. Neither of them wanted to talk about it, but they both knew that this would be their last day together for a long time. Early the next day, Quirine would be leaving, going to a different state for high school. Her parents had gotten a new job far away, so she had to leave her old friends behind and move on. She was confident she could adjust to the change, but she didn’t want to leave Ron, and he didn’t want her to leave either.

“Are too!” he said, trying not to leave enough time for an awkward silence to start. Quirine made the shove-gesture at him again, but this time, she slipped on her branch and fell toward him. Somehow, Ron managed to catch her shoulders, holding her only a few inches away from his face. Luckily for both of them, there was another branch just behind Ron, preventing him from slipping off. Neither of them said a word, but as far as they could tell, they both knew what they wanted to do.

Ron was perfectly capable of holding Quirine steady, but the two of them began to slip closer to each other. Their eyes closed and their lips parted slightly just as they were about to meet. Just before their lips touched, Quirine recoiled suddenly. She wanted to kiss Ron, probably more than anything else, but she just couldn't. Something else was taking control. "Hih… Heeihh…" Quirine's head tipped backward slightly, her mouth hanging open. "HEICHHHW!" She sneezed right into Ron's face, misting him slightly. Quirine gasped and covered the lower half of her face with her hand, but Ron started to laugh. After a second, Quirine followed him.

The two friends fell toward each other in a hug, giving up on kissing each other for the time being. After holding each other tight, they let go and pushed apart to about arm's length. "Hey, maybe we should climb down," Ron said, patting Quirine's cheek. "Just to be safe." Quirine nodded and rubbed one of her eyes again, a very faint smile appearing on her lips. She and Ron started to climb down the branches, trying to race each other like they always did.

Since the day they had met, Quirine had always been the better tree climber, and she always beat Ron up or down. This time, however, she was clearly distracted. During her whole climb toward the ground, she could feel something tickling her wide nose. It felt like it could have been the tree itself, but Quirine had been climbing it her whole life and it had never cause any sort of reaction before. She cursed to herself as she heard Ron drop to the grass below the tree, having finally beaten her for the first time.

"Yes! Finally!" Ron said, jumping and throwing his arms in the air. Only seconds after he landed, Quirine's legs dropped through the bottom of the branches, ready to return to the ground. However, instead of letting go, she stayed in place longer than she usually did. Ron approached her, looking up into the tree. "Hey, are you okay, Q?"

A leaf had brushed against one of Quirine's nostrils as she reached the end of her descent. This simple contact made her nose tickle so much that she had to stop for a moment. "Hihh… Hehhh…"Her breath hitched again, and since she needed both hands to hang from her branch, there wasn't anything she could do to stop herself. "HECHHWW!" Quirine's sneeze broke her grip on the branch and made her fall to the ground. Ron tried to catch her, but his efforts only ended with her landing on top of him. He had to admit that it hurt, but he was more than happy to have Quirine lying on him. She pushed herself up, putting her arms to Ron's sides, and stared down at him, unable to do anything but smile broadly.

Their eyes closed and they moved toward each other again, ready to try kissing one more time. Ron pressed his lips to Quirine's, and although he could tell she was probably going to sneeze again, they continued. "Hihh.. Hihhh…" Quirine's head tipped back, parting her lips from Ron's. Ron simply closed his mouth, but he otherwise remained stationary. "HICHHHWW!" Once Ron felt Quirine's mist settle on his face, he pulled her close again and their kiss continued. Both of them lost track of time, but eventually they mutually decided that they were ready to stop. They stood, staring into each others' eyes. Both of them had so much to say, but neither of them could speak. Eventually, Quirine broke the silence with a simple "goodbye," a wide smile on her face. Ron nodded and echoed her, sure that she was crying this time. That was okay though; he was too.

---

Quirine pulled her car into the small parking lot in front of a grassy park, giving in to an insatiable feeling of nostalgia. The route for her current business trip had her driving through her old hometown, and more specifically, that park with that tree. Quirine had told herself to be mature and stay on the job, not stopping except for the necessities, but the closer she grew to the park, the more she realized that stopping there was a necessity too. Shutting off her car, she stepped out onto the gravel of the parking lot, staring ahead at the tree.

Approaching the tree, Quirine felt her nose starting to tickle. She had changed a lot as she grew up,

but her allergy to tree pollen remained. In fact, Quirine only had a passing resemblance to her younger self. Her freckles had faded completely, she had grown extraordinarily tall, and she actually wore her glasses now. But, that sudden tickling in her nose brought her back to her teenage days. Quirine rubbed her index finger back and forth under her wide nose, smiling to herself. The mature businesswoman inside was telling her to go back to her car and move on, but she ignored those feelings and laid her free hand on the trunk of the tree.

A gentle breeze blew through the park, rustling the branches. Quirine smiled at the sound, but her expression changed to a frown as a few loose leaves fell down around her. "Hhh… Hihhh… HHMMP!" Quirine pinched her nostrils shut just in time to stifle a tickly sneeze. Holding it in left her feeling itchy and a little stuffed up, but she had become a habitual stifler in her adulthood, so she always did it reflexively whether she wanted to or not. As soon as she recovered from the sneeze, Quirine vigorously rubbed her nose and then looked up at the branches of the tree, her smile widening.

Reaching up at the lower branches, Quirine began to climb. The mature half of her personality screamed at her for a moment, but before too long it simply gave up and sat in the corner of her mind, defeated. One of her pant legs caught on a branch and tore, but Quirine continued on. She stopped half way up to stifle another "HHMMP!!" into her thumb and forefinger, but afterward she continued as if nothing had happened.

A few branches and sneezes later, Quirine reached her old spot. She was just about to sit down on the same old branch, but she suddenly stopped. Quirine sneezed one more time and then looked over at the branch directly across from her. The one Ron always sat on. Her smile grew broader still and she decided to sit on his branch for a change. Settling into place, Quirine closed her eyes and leaned against the trunk of the tree for a moment. She ran her hand down the trunk, and she found something that didn't feel like normal bark. Opening her eyes, Quirine saw a small heart carved into the wood. There was something inside it, and as she leaned closer to look, another sneeze took over.

"Hih… Hehhh… Heiihhh… HMMMMP!!!"

R + Q

---

And there you go. I need to think of more things to say after I finish, but until I do, I hope you enjoyed it!

[HappyDays]

awwwww it's so cute!

[TheCakeIsAlive]

Awwww! I love what you did with this story. D'awww, the kissing while sneezing was really cute. Very sweet story.

Love the ending.

[Butch]

AWWWW! I LOVE this story. love the ending, too. So adorable.

[Chanel_no5]

I think I've said it before, but even if I did, I can say it again. Your stories are so cute and so sweet!! Beautiful work!

[Balmora]

Blah, I fricking LOVE this! <3

[NoV]

Very sweet and a great ending too

[dontnoqit]

This is a great little self-contained story. Sweet, too!

[High on Lullabies]

Awww, that's adorable! What a lovely story, very much like the way it's written