For never really having climbed a tree before, I surprised myself at the agility with which I did it.

I found a nice nook in the tree to sit in and looked around aimlessly. My gaze finally fell on the sky. It was a deep, light blue. It wasn’t quite noon yet. I looked a moment longer before something caught my eye. A star.

Well, more correctly, it was the sun. However, what was the sun but a small star which the planets of our solar system revolve around?

I took in a deep breath. Hopefully this would work. “Star light, star bright,” I began, switching around the words of the rhyme in my head, “the star that brings us day and night; I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish make everything right.” I forced a small smile. That sounded good enough.

I attempted to look at the sun through the tree leaves above me. After finding it was a losing battle, I began staring at a large white cloud in the sky. “I never remember this working before, but this is really important, so I’m hoping this time will be an exception,” I said out loud, beginning my wish. “My best friend and I are fighting. I . . . I don’t know what to do. She’s just so important to me -” I wiped my eyes clear of the tears that had formed. “I’d do anything for her,” I continued. “She knows that. Well, I always thought she did. And I never wanted anything to come between us. But then I met Isaac and . . . But I never thought he was coming between me and Evie.” I sighed weakly and managed to smile at myself. I had succeeded in turning a single wish into my life’s story. I took a deep breath and said, “Okay, to cut to the chase, my wish is to have Evie back as my friend. Even if it costs me Isaac. I . . . I wish I didn’t have to choose, but since I have to, I choose Evie.”

There was a slight noise from below me. I looked down to see Evie standing beside the tree house. “Why don’t you come down?” she asked quietly, looking up at me intently.

“How long have you been there?” I asked.

“Long enough,” she replied with a sigh. “Jaye-Jae, I . . . I was wrong, okay? I know now how much Isaac means to you. And I know how incredibly selfish it was for me to tell you to break up with him.” She looked away as she said the last part, but then looked right back up at me.

I managed to smile at her. “We were never going out,” I corrected.

She smiled too. “Okay, you were never going out,” she agreed. “Now, will you come down? Please? I want to talk to you.”

“What? Can’t talk to me from down there?” I joked.

“I have a lot to say,” she said, tone serious. Then, trying to sound light, she added, “I don’t wanna strain my neck.”

With a small half smile, I nodded. I looked at the tree trunk and immediately realized that I was up higher than I’d thought. I was about twenty feet above the staircase that led to the tree house. I took in a deep breath and started climbing downward.

It was actually pretty easy. One foot down just a step lower than the last. When I was about halfway down the branch, I stretched my leg across, looking for another limb to steady myself on.

“Jaye,” Evie called cautiously. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

I looked over at her. “Of course,” I said, with more confidence than I felt. To prove my point, I leaned my chest into the branch and held my arms out at my sides. “Look, no hands.” With that done, I latched back onto the limb and once again turned my attention to descending the tree.

“Just be careful, all right?” Eve plead softly.

I sighed and turned back to her. “Look, Evie, I’m doing fine. Just stop interrupting me -”

I let out a little yell. While looking at my friend, my feet had slipped out from beneath me. Now, the only thing keeping me from having an unpleasant meeting with the wooden staircase fifteen feet below me was the grip my arms held on the branch.

continue
The Index
The Window Seat