FALL AWAY ⇢ JONATHAN BRANDIS

five ↠ sarah

What happened after that was a blur.

It seemed like the whole town was there. But still I wouldn't move. Then my father showed up. He talked a fireman into letting him come up to where I was.

"Sweetie," He said, softly. "it's time to come down."
"Daddy, please don't let them do this." I pleaded.

"Sweetie-"
"Daddy, look. You can see everything. You can see the whole world from here!" I cried.

"No view is worth my daughter's safety. Now, come on." My father said.
I shook my head. "I can't."

"Julianna, it's time to come down now."
"Please, Daddy." I continued to plead.
"It's time." My father held out his hand. After pleading and pleading, I gave in.

And that was it.

I must've cried for two weeks straight. Oh, sure, I went to school and did the best I could... but nothing seemed to matter.

"Sarah?" My teacher asked me.
"Huh?" I replied, hoping she hadn't been calling my name for too long.
"Do you know the answer?" She questioned.
I bit my lip. "Uh, the Peloponnesian War?"

"I'm sure that's the answer to something... but I was looking for the area of a rhomboid."

I shuffled awkwardly in my seat as the other students in my class snickered.

But, somehow, rhomboids and isosceles right triangles... didn't seem so important.

I rode my bike so I wouldn't have to pass by the stump. That used to be the earth's most magnificent sycamore tree. But no matter what I did, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

There was a knock on the door, followed by the familiar voice of my father. "Are you okay?"

I didn't answer. I laid there and stared at the ceiling until my father was sat at the side of my bed.

"It was just a tree. No, it wasn't just a tree. I never want you to forget how you felt when you were up there." My dad smiled, placing his hand on my arm and gently squeezing it.
I returned the expression. "Thanks, Dad."

It was the first thing I saw every morning and the last thing I saw before I went to sleep.

And once I could look at it without crying, I saw more than the tree and what being up there meant to me.

I saw the day that my view of things around me started changing. And I wondered, did I still feel the same things about Jonathan...?