The Apple Tree: The Homecoming

“Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me,
Anyone else but me, anyone else but me,
No, no, no, don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me,
Till I come marching home.”

Darth was coming home with his heart in his hand and an engagement ring for Maureen in his pocket. He knew that their attraction for one another was love at its finest, a romance to end all romances. Their relationship had always been one that was intimate in a healthy way. The closeness they felt was evident to everyone. The words of the Andrews sister’s music resounded in his head, as the bus pulled up in front of the local library.

“Is she here?” he wondered, did not see her there.

Maureen’s fidelity was unquestionable to Darth. He knew in his heart, that their future together was destined to be full of loving, caring concern and sharing joy with one another. Having known each other since childhood, they had made plans well into the future. Every letter they wrote to each other, re-confirmed their intention to get married and start a family.

“Where is she?” wondered Darth. He had mixed feelings, as he walked several miles to the farm where Maureen lived with her elderly father.

“Maureen, you knew I was coming home today,” Darth spoke to her, in his heart. “Please, don’t tell me you have someone else!” The last mile was the longest Darth ever walked in his life, each step resounding with the same song. An ambulance and her family doctor’s black car were in the driveway.

Darth stopped beside the old, apple tree at the end of the driveway, put his suitcase down and sat on it. Unobserved, he watched as several attendants lifted a stretcher and placed it in the ambulance. Moments later, Maureen, obviously in tears, walked over to the ambulance with her doctor. Before he left, the doctor hugged her gently.

“I came home just in time, but I did not mean you could not sit under the apple tree with your dad, too,” said Darth, a little while later.