The Power of Love And Sacrifice

Its sprawling branches stretched toward the sky, intertwining like outstretched arms, as if reaching for the fragments of the past that still lingered somewhere above. Th

gainst the rough, weathered bark. It felt solid, grounding, yet something about it made my throat tighten. Here it was, unchanged, and

voice as it had been bac

watching him struggle with the pocketknif

hakable certainty he always carried. "This tree's been

elieved him. Liam had a way of making m

t. The heart was still there, weathered but intact. It had s

than just a tree. It was our sanctuary, our meeting place, our everything. It was where we'd built a rickety treehouse that coul

e to climb higher than I wanted, to take leaps

and outstretched as I hesitated on the lower bra

d him. I alway

g again. E+L. Just two letters and a symbol, but they carried the weight of ever

time, to that innocence. To when the world felt small and simple, when this tree felt

life

alway

e present, between who I was and who I had become. The tree was the same, unch

couldn't help but wonder could something this

rtips as I traced the heart we'd ca

till there just like Liam had said it would be. "Oak trees last forever, Ellie," h

se, a wobbly structure that Liam insisted would withstand a hurricane. It was where we hid out during summer thunderstorms, the branches shielding us like t

e forehead, leaving a smudge of jelly just above my eyebrow. He'd laughed so hard he nearly fell out of the tree. I did

he tree, but I couldn't say the same for us. Life had pulled us in different dir

leaves behind me made my breath catch. I di

here," Liam said, his vo

defined, and there were faint lines around his eyes that hadn't been there before. But hi

said, trying to sound ligh

shoved into the pockets of his jacket. "Only to you." He glanced

ing back at the hear

ce, the weight of years and uns

carved that?" he asked, n

me hold the knife because you

o warm, that it sent a pang straight to my c

said, my fingers still tracing the heart. "Like the time you

we'd had better duct tape," he

. "You were always so sure

is voice softening. "But I w

d down, suddenly unable to meet his eyes. "Things ch

other step closer. "This tree didn't

to know-the one who built me a treehouse when I was too scared to climb,

self. The words felt like they'd been trapped

oice cracking just enough to make

anything, just letting the silence fill the spaces between us. I

steady, "I think this tree kept me going. Every time I thought about givin

s. "Me too," I admitted. "Coming bac

locking onto mine. "At least, it

nd never let go, but another part of me was terrified of the years we'd lost,

mine. "We planted roots here, Ellie," he said, his voice full of

into its bark. And for the first time in a long time, I felt hope like maybe, just may

t maybe, they