The Girl and the Yew tree

Chapter 8

Year 3

Everyday Sasha would make the same journey, first to the forest then to school, then to the forest again and finally back home to sleep and then repeat.

As long as Sasha stayed out of trouble and refrained from coming home at suspicious times, the hours at home would pass uneventfully. apart from the unavoidable "where were you" and the time they would cross paths when he was in a bad mood. Thankfully those occasions were seldom, unlike with the boy Bradley. She was forced to see him every day at school, to silently shoulder his insults and remarks. For Sasha, he was nothing but a fly that followed her around in hopes of getting a reaction, one day perhaps he would.

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The seasons went by in a blur as Yew and Sasha became closer; like two trees planted side by side they had grown into each other, intertwined in both heart and soul, completely and utterly dependent on one another. One was always on the other's mind and eventually the girl understood that feeling Yew had been describing. An entire year went by within this lull of happiness but Sasha didnt expose her truth, she was much too content with the way things were, and didnt want Yew to lose that innocent gleam in his eyes.
Every day the two would go on different adventures, traveling the forest that Yew had always dreamed of showing someone else. they scoured every inch for new things and places to be, what they realized was that this was not a very large forest, and most of it was much like all of it, trees, bushes, logs, and occasional rocks to stumble over. Aside from the lake, in all their searching they had only come across one place of significance. It was another clearing but this one was deeply immersed in the center of the forest, the trees and branches loomed over it and blocked all light from seeping through and so this had become the best place for hide and seek, though it was more of hide and less of seek.

After relieving the forest of all its mysteries the two would remain most of the time in the clearing where Yew lived. They would talk on end, somehow never running out of things to say, though sometimes the mere sight of Sasha standing in the sunlight or laying on the emerald grass would render Yew speechless.

Throughout all their meetings and days together, Sasha would make sure that no one saw her as she walked into the forest each day, but someone did. The wicked boy Bradley would stand behind the nearest house by the forest, and stare as Sasha walked down the end of the street and vanished into the trees. He always wondered why she would go into the forest each day without exception. At first the boy thought it was to hide from him but then he saw the expression on the girl's face when she looked back one last time before disappearing, it was happiness. She beamed with it and it turned the boys stomach sour. Finally, one day Bradley decided to follow Sasha in, he stayed a distance away so she wouldnt know he was there, but unbeknownst to him she was already aware.
Sasha led him around the forest in circles, wanting to seem like she was only taking a walk. Seeing no end to this Bradley fumed while leaving the coverage of a tree and yelled hey! the girl spun round feigning surprise to the boy she knew so well.
"What are you doing out here?" the boy demanded. Sasha attempted to appear nonchalant but when avoiding eye contact there is a limit to how relaxed one can appear. She always hated Bradleys eyes; they were a bright green that seemed to cut right through her. Though Yew and he shared the same colour, no eyes could have been more different.
"I like to take peaceful walks" hearing this half-hearted response, Bradley advanced
"How stupid do you think I am, every day you walk into this forest without fail with that same sickening smile on your face" the boy went on without interjection, every time he would do this he came closer to breaking her, but Sasha wouldnt allow it, not yet. "Who is it you come to meet? What do you do?" Sasha took half a step back
"Why do you care so much?" Bradleys eyes flared, before pushing the girl to the ground. Sasha was taken aback by his childishness, Bradley only ever insulted her, this had been the first time he had laid a hand on her, what was different now? he stood over Sasha, glaring down and speaking through clenched teeth
"I dont care; I just dont like not knowing" he leaned down to her, allowing Sasha to notice the brown roots of his hair "you're not better than me" with that, the boy rouse and took his leave slowly walking away, feeling the stare of the girl on his back.
After he had vanished into the thickets of the leaves, Sasha rose to her feet; she dusted her dress and collected herself. Breathing in and out to calm her nerves, Sasha had not yet noticed the figure that came out from behind a tree, it was Yew. He caused her to jump but then she smiled "its a good thing I knew he was there, if he had seen you theres no telling what he would have done." Sasha walked to the boy but stopped when he stepped back, his eyes stuck to the ground where she had been
"I just stood there, you were in trouble and I just stood there" the girl shook her head
"its alright, I didnt want you to be seen, you had no choice" she reached out a loving hand to place on him but Yew recoiled, tightly wrapping his arms around himself.
"No, I had another choice, I could have defended you; I could have done something, anything!"
"Im glad you didnt do anything. I love you and I dont want you getting hurt" the wooden boy stiffened at the words that had slipped out from Sasha's mouth; this was the first time she had said it, that she loved him. Sasha didnt know what she had expected his reaction to be, but she knew it was anything but this. His eyes dulled as he turned away saying
"Love me? I dont think I can let youhow could you love someone who cant even protect you?" tears filled his frustrated eyes as he turned to walk away.
"Yew" Sasha called out, but he didnt look back at her "Yew!" she repeated louder and that time he did stop. The girl didnt ask him to turn around; she knew he wouldnt, what boy wants to be seen when crying?
"I dont need you to protect me, you do enough by just being there for me" she began "I walk out of this forest every day, go back to my horrible life, and though I hate it, its what Ive been given, so I know how to look after myself" she stepped closer, watching his shoulder tremble with emotion "so no, I dont need your protection, what I need from you is your support." Finally she reached him and while pressing her forehead to his back, Sasha confessed "do you know why I can get out of bed every morning? Its because I know youre here waiting for me" tears began to sting her own eyes and her voice grew weak "so yeah, I can deal with a few cuts and bruises if it means youre here, safe."
Silence.
The only sound that could be heard was the muffled sniffles of Yew sobbing. Sasha came around him to face him but instead of lifting her gaze, she simply reached up, placing her hand behind Yews neck, leading him down to her shoulder. The wooden boy was a head taller than her and so he had to bend slightly. The tears he cried were not those of salt, but of sap, slowly dribbling down his face. Finally Yew rested his head down, pressing his eyes to the shoulder of the girl who loved him, drenching her in his tears.