Eve

*Boom*

Mila landed with both feet on the ground. She bent her knees to absorb the impact from the jump of the tree branch. Other than her ankles hurting a little, she was able to get into the park unscathed. Mila walked up to the path that led to the park’s center. The park was surrounded by an eerie atmosphere at this hour of the day. The city's streetlights cast a weird shadow upon it. Some of the tree’s leaves had already started to change color and drop on the well-maintained paths.

The windy path brought Mila to the big apple tree that stood tall in the park’s center. This must be that tree the guardian was talking about. A few rotten apples lay underneath it. Mila walked up to one and grabbed it. Something should happen, right?

But nothing did, and Mila didn’t have a clue what to do next. She walked towards a swingset opposite the tree and sat down. Suddenly she got hit with a flash of nostalgia. A cloudy memory of her mom and dad taking turns pushing the swing. Mila entertained herself a little by swinging around.

“Ghost-lady, are you here?

Nothing is happening!

You lied to me!”

Mila looked up at the tree, there were some fresh apples still hanging from the branches. The apples had a distinctive purple glow like no others. I ate one before right? Mila couldn’t remember how they tasted. Maybe she should grab a fresh one. Mila walked up to the tree, reached her hands, and jumped… To no avail. The apples were hanging too high for her to grab them.

Mila looked around and saw a long stick laying in the grass. It must be a fallen-off branch. She grabbed it and poked at the tree. After a few attempts, an apple fell down from the tree. Mila picked up the pure appel and…

*flash*

Suddenly the atmosphere completely changed as if Mila got transported to another dimension. The sun was shining brightly on her face and the tree was full of pink blossoms. A boy and a girl came walking towards the tree. They were wearing the uniform from Mila’s school - she looked a little younger than Mila. Wait, those two look familiar to me. Isn’t that the girl from the fight in the hallway? The one that wrote the love letter?

The pair approached the tree and then stopped only a hair away from where Mila stood. They seemed to not have noticed her, it was like Mila was invisible to them. Mila spoke... then shouted but there was no reaction. Confused about her situation, she decided the best thing would be to watch the girl and boy and overhear their conversation.

“So is this the beautiful tree you wanted to show me?”

The girl looked up to the tree top.

She folded her hands before her chest and leaned in the boy’s direction.

“These flowers look really pretty Senpai”

Yuck… he seems totally different from the violent girl in the hallway.

The boy looked a bit flustered and then responded.

“I am glad you like it, Iona”

“Let me tell you an interesting fact about this tree. It may look like any ordinary apple tree, but appearances can be deceiving. In fact, this mere tree may be the only one of its kind. At the end of summer, its blossom will make place for fairytale-like-purplish apples. If given to someone, they are said to have the magical ability to make them accept the giver's shortcomings and see them as their true self”

Iona was attentively listening to the story.

“You are so smart Senpai, how do you know so much?”

She must be bored as well, right?

The boy blushed a little.

“Have you ever given someone one of these apples?”

“Ehmm.. ehmm.. I haven’t had the need for it… but maybe one day?”

“Oh Senpai, you are such a dork”

The girl giggled a little.

“Is there any girl you want to give one to?”

Iona rocked around a bit nervously.

Please confess to her already!

The boy looked a bit embarrassed.

“Ma..ma… maybe… They... they are not ripe yet”

Iona looked down at the floor.

“Ahh... I get it. Maybe later than”

The girl grabbed the boy by his arm.

“Let’s head to the ice cream store, okay?”

As they ran away together towards the park's exit, everything turned dark again. Mila shivered a little from the cold. It was nighttime again and Mila was standing in the park - alone. Still, in awe from what she just experienced, Mila looked at her hand that was still holding the apple she picked.

This apple looks so familiar… I ate one recently, right? But I haven’t visited this park in

ages…

And then Mila made a sudden realization. Her mind wander off to yesterday after school in the shoe locker room.

X

“Hajime, I am starving. You got something for me?”

Hajime his hands in his pockets and turned them inside out.

“Looks like I am out of power bars”

When they walked passed some shoeboxes, Mila looked around if there was anything edible to grab.

Ehh.. a lot of shoes as suspected. I am not THAT hungry…

Then she spotted an apple in one of the boxes. She grabbed it - without stopping and ate it on her way out. She probably threw down the core near the bus stop and then completely forgot about it…

X

Mila looked at the apple in her hand and now everything made sense to her. So this caused this whole ordeal to happen? Me eating a stupid apple cause the world to end? I mean it’s just an APPLE!

A large sigh exited Mila's mouth as she made her way back to the back of the park, the place where she got in. Luckily, there was an easy way to climb out from this site. She climbed up and then carefully dropped the apple to the ground. Then she hung herself from the fence to make the drop distance as small as possible and let herself fall. Not too painful this time around. She walked up to the front gate and looked for her bike. She noticed the thorny shrubbery had left a big scratch in the red paint. Oh wait, this isn’t MY bike! I just grabbed it… just like that apple… Mila started to feel a little bad for the neighbor’s son but then abruptly came back to her usual self. His daddy will fix it. It’s not like he’s going to end the world too right RIGHT?

“Hahahaha”

Mila nervously laughed as she stepped onto the bike and drove away to her next location. Luckily it wasn’t too far from here. Mila pedaled back to the main avenue she came from - from there she knew where to go.

Ten minutes later, Mila arrived at her destination. A place she was all too familiar with after having to come here daily for three and a half years. Her school looked completely desolate at this hour. Not all that surprising… this wasn’t the first time she had been at school this late at night. But that time was different since she was with friends. How am I going to break into the school alone?