Amanda's Tree

A young woman was going to pick apples for the first time since she was just a small child she had spent the night before getting all of grandmothers and mothers recipes and must now have a huge phone bill after all the time she spent on the phone with them both. It didn't matter the cost she remembered waking up as a little girl and remembering how exciting it was to go to an orchard and pick them for yourself, big juicy red apples, green and tart, small and sour, she loved them all, the family would go and enjoyed the day talking but eating more than saving and all the while doing this with her family, her father would get the ladder for the ones on top of the tree and she and her sister would be on the bottom of the tree as they would fall they would catch them before they would hit the ground, the taste and feel of a good apple was just what she was needing to get out of the city gloom she was in. Just as she was walking out of the house the phone rang. "Who could that be?" She walked over to the phone and saw on the caller I.D. it was her mother, so she answered wondering what this could be about. "Hello Mom I was just walking out the front door." "Well dear I was telling your Dad about where you were going and said he and I would like to go with you." She was really excited about this going to the orchard again with her parents again. "Really Mom, I'll be there to pick you up see you in a minute." She drove to her parents and her father was ready with the ladder, he was in his usual apple picking clothes she hadn't seen him wear in years, a pair of jeans and short sleve button down shirt with a funny little hat on his head. "Well Misty I got to thinking we'll take my truck you can haul this in your car." Misty was stunned he hadn't had the truck out in years ever since her sister had past when she was a girl, that was the reason they stopped going to the orchard it was her sisters favorite thing to do every year. "That sounds wonderful Dad, I'm happy to see it still runs." Her father was taken aback but said in an understanding tone, "I keep it tuned and ready to go just as I hope you are, ready?" Misty broke into a big smile "Ready, Daddy". Misty's sister was the victim of an accident, when she was climbing a tree to get her cat down when she lost her footing and fell in a way that broke her neck, it broke the famlies heart to loose a young girl at such a tender age, nobody fully recovered but time has a way of easing the pain of loosing a loved one and some days are better than others this happend to be one of those days. Sitting in the front seat of the old 75 truck Misty felt like a little girl again sitting in the middle, with her father driving and her mother and she talking about recipes that her great great grandmother had come up with, the long drive felt like it was just an instant. When they arrived at the orchard it was busy a crafts fair was going on, the apples were fully ripe and families were everywhere, they were having a wonderful time she felt like a young little girl again. Misty's father seemed like he was enjoying himself to the fullest he wasn't an old man but the grief of loosing his one daughter had taken its toll, his hair was white and his face had more wrinkles than it should, but he was the first to say her name. "Amanda would have loved this the three of us here together today." Misty had a tear in eyes and she said. "Daddy she would have, I know she would." Her mother came from behind her and hugged her around the neck and said. "Sisters never die baby, they just simply become our gaudian angel so they are with us all the time protecting us." The father came down off the ladder and hugged them both but was the first to release, step back and looked at them both. "Ladies we're not getting any apples picked are we?" Misty got back to work right away and she saw an apple that was nearly perfect it was just hanging there with last night's rain drops still on it she walked over to it and picked it off the tree but didn't put it in the sack. The family picked until they had four bushels of apples enjoyed the craft fair and the food at the consesion and left, driving back they were passing the cemetery that her little sister was buried at. "Daddy can we go in please" Misty's father turned in and drove to the grave where his baby was buried. Misty and her parents walked over to the grave and planted the seeds from the one apple ten feet away from the grave where there wasn't another grave near it besides her little sisters. "Amanda I hope this tree will grow so you can have your own tree." Just then she felt a warm small hand in her hand but when she looked there wasn't anyone there and the feeling of the hand was gone. "I love you little sis." Her Dad walked over to her knowing what had just happend "Did you feel the hand in your hand?" Misty was shocked "How did you know?" Her father who had never cried to where people could see him broke down. "I came out here yesterday and asked her if it was alright if I went to the orchard, and she did the same thing to me, then I knew it was alright. Your mother is right she is our angel, and I haven't been doing what she would want from me, living, but I'm making a change let's go to the lake next week. How does that sound Kim" Kim turned to her husband and said. "You know George a small drive from here and we're at the cabin and we could take these apples and cook them the way used to, I've waiting a long time for us to begin living again I loved her but we can't stop living, Misty will you come with us?" Misty didn't hesitate "Yes let's go." To which her father said "What are we waiting for let's get home and get the supply and we'll be off by three." They got back into the truck and began driving out and Misty turned around and she thought she saw the apple tree fully grown with a little girl holding a cat in her arms, smiling and waving goodbye, Misty shut her eyes to clear her mind and when she opened them none of that was there, did she imagin it or was it her sister saying, I'll see you later?