The tree loved his little girl. He welcomed her into his arms when ever she came and held her up to the sky. He knew that she had a sad life and that the wind didn’t blow in her the way it should. But she could breath easily in his branches and he knew she loved him in her human way. He loved her very much in a tree way and made sure there were apples to eat and air to breath so that she would stay as long as possible. They were very happy when they were together.
Elisabeth’s mother was calling her. Elisabeth could hear the slight panic that was always in her mother’s voice when she didn’t know where the girl was. If Elisabeth wasn’t within sight her mother assumed she was somewhere dying a painful death.
Elisabeth sighed. She didn’t want to go home yet. It was so peaceful here in the tree. A faint breeze was ruffling the leaves and gently pulling on her hair as if it wanted her to come play. The tree was tall and in its branches she could almost reach the clouds. She didn’t want to come down and go back inside. She felt alive under the tree. She could breath in a way she never could when she was simply under the sky. When she was in the arms of the tree the air around her went in and out of her lungs easily. But the edge of panic in her mother’s voice was getting stronger.
She climbed down from the branch she was perched on and hopped down to the ground. As soon as her feet touched the ground a tightness entered her chest. It made her breaths come in sharp and go out short. She was clutching her side by the time she climbed the short hill to her house and her mother. As usual Elisabeth’s mother was furious at her for making her worry. She pushed Elisabeth inside and made her sit down in a chair and take her medicine.
The tree knew the woman was angry at his girl. He didn’t understand what made her so angry all the time and he hated to watch her yell at his girl so cruely. He wished now as he often did that there was some way to protect his girl from the adults who were so bad to her all the time. But for now he just watched the woman push his girl inside the house.
Elisabeth hated her medicine. It made her feel tired and stupid and it didn’t really help the tightness in her chest. It just tried to make her forget about it and kept her from her tree. Elisabeth hated her house. It was full to bursting with stuff nobody wanted and the air was crowded with smells and dust and cigarette smoke. She never felt like she could get a full breath while she was in the house. Elisabeth didn’t hate her parents, but she didn’t like them very much either. Her father spent most of his days out in the fields or down in the barn and when he was home he would just tell her to be quiet and take her pills. Elisabeth’s mother was a worried person who was sure the world was against her. She spent most of her days listing all the ways Elisabeth made her life difficult and how she would never have what she deserved. Elisabeth’s mother had been very pretty and was going to be a glamorous movie start, but then Elisabeth had come along and she’d had to get married to Elisabeth’s father and settle down. Now, because she spent all her time taking care of such an ungrateful child, she had no time to make anything of herself.
The tree’s branches stretched toward the house as if reaching for the girl who had just left him. He heard the woman yell at her and knew that she wouldn’t be back again that day. He hated to see her so sad and, not for the first time, tried to think of a way to rescue her from her sad life.
Elisabeth sat on the couch and felt heavy. Her father was sitting in his chair watching football on the television. When he’d gotten home from the fields he’d told her to be quiet, told her mother to get him something to eat and then sat down where he was now. Elisabeth wanted to go up to her room, but at this point her medicine made her too weak to get up. The medicine also made the floor move funny when she tried to walk on it and she knew if she fell down now her father would get very angry. So she sat and watched the bright colors move around on the television screen and dreamed of her tree.
“Hey you!”
Elisabeth was jerked back down by her father’s voice. She tried to focus her eyes on his face, but he seemed really blurry to her tired, medicine fogged mind. He told her to go get him something to drink and to be quick about it. And then he turned back to the television.
Elisabeth’s breath came sharp in her chest. She needed to get up walk to the kitchen and back now without falling. And she knew she wouldn’t be able to do it. Elisabeth closed her eyes and pretended she was walking down the hill to her tree. He was waiting for her with open arms. She could see the apples shining in his branches. He had put one in the sun to ripen just for her. She was going to sit in his topmost branches and eat the bright red apple while the sun danced on her face. She put her hand out and grabbed a low branch.
Elisabeth opened her eyes to see that she had made it all the way to refrigerator. Her hand was clamped around the handle. She managed to open the door and get a beer. Walking to the drawer with the bottle opener took great concentration, but Elisabeth held tight to the counter with the hand that wasn’t holding the beer. Luckily her mother hadn’t put away dishes that day so Elisabeth’s father’s special beer mug was still drying on the counter within easy reach. Elisabeth opened the beer, poured it into the mug and started back to her father. She closed her blurry eyes and once again pretended she was walking out to her tree, this time with a glass of water in her hands. She was walking slowly and carefully. It was important the glass of water didn’t spill.
“Hey girl!”
Her father’s shout broke all of Elisabeth’s concentration.
“Hurry it up!”
She was falling. The cold mug slipped out of her hands and she fell with it. It crashed to the floor seconds before she did and shattered. She fell on top of the glass and beer, cutting her hands and drenching her dress. With a roar her father grabbed her by her hair, lifted her out of the puddle and threw her back onto the floor, yelling and swearing. Elisabeth lay crumpled on the floor and felt the world spin away from her into black.
When she woke up, Elisabeth was on the floor in her room. She had blood on her hands from the broken glass, her head hurt from being thrown by her hair and she was pretty sure her father had dragged her upstairs by her arm. She smelled like beer becoming stale.
Elisabeth knew without checking that the door was locked. It would stay locked until her father went to the field the next day and her mother came to give her medecine. Elisabeth curled up around herself and tried not to listen to her fatherand mother yelling at each other. She hated the yelling, but knew it was better than just her father yelling. She tried to concentrate on forcing air in and out of her lungs. The night passed slowly.
The tree knew that the girl needed to get away from the two monsters she lived with. He knew that if he didn’t rescue her soon she could get hurt beyond rescue or healing. The tree thought through the long night. He thought and listened to his girl struggle for each breath in the house of those who hated her. As the moon moved across the sky the tree thought through the problem. When the moon touched the horizon the tree was sure he had a way to rescue his girl.
The sun shone through the dingy curtains into Elisabeth’s room. It shone on her face where she was curled up on the floor and gently woke her. As soon as she was fully awake Elisabeth found she hadn’t wanted to wake up. She was stiff, sore and hungry and she smelled terrible. She crept to the door, but it was still locked. Out her window Elisabeth could see her tree. Its branches were stretched towards the house as if it was reaching for her. Elisabeth smiled; at least something on the property wanted her. A locked clicked behind her and Elisabeth’s mother came through the door. Her eye was bruised and swollen and her lip was cut and had been bleeding. Without a word to her daughter she left the room. Elisabeth knew this was going to be a bad day.
She cleaned herself up and got changed before going downstairs. Her mother was waiting for her in the kitchen with her medicine. Elisabeth tried to explain that she felt fine and didn’t need the medicine, but her mother never listened. So Elisabeth settled in for another day of sitting around the house feeling fuzzy and sick.
Elisabeth sat on the sofa staring out the window. Everything was blury around the edges. She felt disconnected from her body as if it belonged to someone else and she was just a head floating in space. Her breath still came in short gasps, but someone else needed to breath so it was okay. Out the window her tree beckoned to her to come out and sit in its branches. It waved urgently to her. Elisabeth waved back. It waved still harder, insisting. Elisabeth’s mother was watching television in the kitchen and paying no attention to her. She got to her feet and immediately fell down.
The tree couldn’t see his girl anymore, but he knew she was coming. Come, he called, come to me and I will make you safe.
Elisabeth crawled to the wall and pulled herself to her feet. She walked along the wall to the door and then she was out of the house.
The tree called to the wind and asked her to help his girl come to him.
The wind blew her hair as she staggered down the hill to the tree. It blew some of the fog from her mind and helped her stand. Her vision cleared as she neared the tree. She tripped over a root and fell at the foot of her tree. She crawled up to the trunk and rested her face against the smooth bark. The last of the medicine fog was forced from her mind and she stood up and climbed into the tree’s branches.
The tree gathered his girl in his branches and held her close. He lifted her into the air and held her up away from the ground that dragged her down. He pulled her close to his trunk and whispered his plan into her ear.
Elisabeth was breathing without any difficulty. She closed her eyes and drank in the air. The dizziness she had become used to on the ground left her entirely. And then a soft voice spoke in her ear. It spoke of rescue, safety and comfort. It spoke of leavings and sanctuary. It spoke love to her. Elisabeth felt tears prick her eyes as she heard these word and thought about they meant. The voice also spoke of forever and goodbye. Elisabeth looked at her house and considered.
The tree was almost shivering with anxienty as his girl thought about what he was offering. He knew that his idea was frightening. But he hoped that she would say yes and let his rescue her.
Elisabeth looked at the house and thought about her mother. She though about the months and years that would be if she stayed. She looked towards the fields and thought about her father. She thought about what her future with him would look like. And then she wrapped her arms as far as they went around her tree’s trunk and whispered her answer.
Elisabeth’s parents never guessed what really happened. They found Elisabeth curled up in the tree. She looked peaceful and happy. Her mother assumed she was asleep and tried to wake her, but Elisabeth would not wake. Her father yelled and shook her, but where Elisabeth had gone he couldn’t hurt her anymore. Elisabeth’s parents mourned in a way for this child they had never wanted, though at times it seemed forced and it didn’t last very long. Soon, too soon, life became normal and they returned to their old ways. But Elisabeth and her tree lived long and happily ever after.