A grand white house stands far away from the big city, at the foot of the mountains. The house is built in the old Victorian style, with a large porch. In the garden, there is a large, old, seemingly dead-looking tree at the back. It looks dead because it never bears any leaf, yet it is strong and healthy. It survived many storms and turbulent events. On one of its big branches hangs a wooden swing chair. It is on this swing chair that April and Rafael enjoy many sunsets together.

                   April and Rafael are the prototype couple of love at first sight. They have known each other for decades now but only very recently started living together and one of the first things they decided was to buy a new house. Both instantly fell in love with this beautiful big house and its spacious land surrounding it. The house was big enough for their two families to live in as one from now on. And even when they grew bigger, spread their wings, and move out, it was not too big for only the two.

                   And thus, it was a beautiful summer Monday morning when an excited April, together with Rafael, leave the real estate agency where they had just finalised the sale and received the keys to their new home. The kids stayed with their grandparents, so April and Rafael will be alone in their new house for the next three days. They will use those days to prepare the home for the upcoming move.

After a 30-minute drive, they turn the car into their driveway.

             “We will have an electric fence here with security cameras,” Rafael points out.

Rafael parks the car in front of their newly bought house, after they both get out of the car they just stand in front of the house and stare at it in awe, still not really believing that this now really belongs to them.

Rafael is the first to walk towards the house, takes out the received keys and opens the door.

Let us not get any wrong ideas, Rafael really loves April. Is extremely happy that, after having each lived their own lives, are now finally together and married. He is just not the typical romantic guy, but do not make the mistake of getting close to his April, he will rip you to pieces.

So, when Rafael opens the door, no one is carried over the threshold and they each just get inside. Once inside they both go their own direction, walking through several rooms, April opens some windows for fresh air. When April reaches the back garden, she finds Rafael standing on the porch, staring at the tree. April walks up to him and stands close. She lays her head against him and in natural automatism Rafael wraps his arm around her.

                        “What is on your mind?” She asks him.

            “I am thinking about what we should do with this tree,” is his reply, “I don’t want it to demolish our house if it will storm.”

April release herself from Rafael's arm and walks towards the tree. With her hand, she goes over the trunk of the tree, almost like caressing it. While doing so, she walks around it. Gently knocks on the trunk and then turns towards her partner.

                        “I don’t think it is dead,” she finally says.

Rafael, in a trance at the sight he just enjoyed, wakes up startled.

            “Uhm… What? Why?” He expresses, not really aware of what just happened.

April giggles, “Where were you?”

            “Hmm, are you sure you want to know that?” Rafael answers with a mysterious smile on his face.

He slowly walks towards the tree and April, and when reaching her he slows down. Approaching her and carefully pushing her with her back against the tree. Rafael is now standing against her and with a finger under her chin he tilts her head, forcing her to look him in the eyes. With his 6ft, he is quite taller than April’s 5.3ft, so she really drowns in his beautiful, green eyes. Her heartbeat is increasing. Rafael now moves his head closer; she can hear his breathing in her ears.

            “Do you really want to know what i was doing in my thoughts?” whisper Rafael while he presses his body a bit tighter against hers. With his free hand, he wipes away some of her beautiful, curly hair, out of her face and exposes her neck.

April is only capable of expressing a heated sigh. Hearing this Rafael softly kissing her neck, kissing his way all up towards her ear.

              “I want you,” he whispers hoarsely, “I want you here and now.”

April softly moans, not capable anymore to speak. Rafael always knew how to take her to beautiful heights. Rafael now looks deeply into her eyes, his hand caressing April's neck. He slowly bends towards April and gently places his lips on hers. The passion now explodes between the two lovers. Rafael now lifts her and places her firmly against the tree while she wraps her legs around him, which results that her skirt is now like a useless piece of cloth around her waist.

            The moment Rafael enters April they gaze into each other's eyes, entering their own rainbow-coloured world. The passion sparks like fireworks and they reach their ecstatic climax together. Still holding April in his arms, panting from this passionate excess, they stand against the tree for a while.

When Rafael finally puts April carefully on her feet again and adjusts his clothes, he looks at April and says, “No, I don’t think the tree is dead either,” and he walks back into their house, leaving behind a startled April. April looks after him with a smile, and while shaking her head, pulls her skirt well and follows him inside, planning to freshen up in the shower.

Inside she hears noises coming out from the kitchen, so she peeks just around the corner, there she sees Rafael unpacking some of the boxes they brought with them.

                        “I am going to take a shower and freshen myself up a bit,” she announces.

Rafael just looks at her with sparkling in his eyes, her messed-up hair betrays what happened a few minutes ago.

            “Meanwhile I will make us some dinner,” Rafael explains to her, while his sparkling eyes are busy picturing his April in the shower. The water sliding over her beautiful naked body.

                       “Please don’t let anything burn,” April expresses when she sees the naughty look on his face.

Rafael walks towards her and takes her closely in his arms.

            “Hmm, this place… You…. They make me completely loos my mind,” he moans in her ear.

He places a kiss on her forehead and walks back to the box with all the pots and pans.

            “I will give it a try, just no guarantees,” he finally answers her question.

After a nice refreshing shower and a not burned fine meal, Rafael and April start unpacking some of the boxes they already took with them.

The house is still in an excellent state, so not many repairs are needed, and they expect it will take them just a couple of days to prepare the house for the big move.

When the sun almost sets, both fall exhausted on the couch on the back porch. April is curled up on the couch against Rafael, watching the setting sun.

                        “It is so beautiful here,” April sighs.

            “It sure is….” Rafael whispers hoarsely.

                       “Do you think you can fix that rocking chair? I really think it would be nice to enjoy the sunsets from underneath that tree,” she asks.

            “That shouldn’t be any problem at all,” Rafael answers, “I’ll go to the hardware store tomorrow to get me the needed materials.”

Rafael gets up and walks towards the tree, now it is he who let his hand slide over the trunk of the tree and carefully seems to inspect it. He now walks around it, while his hand still touches the tree, freely running over its trunk. While leaning against the tree he looks at his April and again is overtaken by this incredible desire. April notices his gaze and is drawn to him like a magnet. She gets up and walks in his direction.

The moment April stands in front of him, Rafael drops down and sits on the ground with his back against the tree.

He takes April by her hand and guides her onto his lap. As completely consumed in their own world the two passionately make love again.

The next two days basically went by, exactly the same. And like two heavily in love teenagers they make love multiple times in between all the repair jobs, with always this mysterious tree as their center.

            In their last week at their old place, April is busy packing the last items. She finds her old diary and curiously starts reading back. With a slightly red face, she reads back her story about the first time with Rafael, now nearly 30 years ago.

                    “Would it just be a coincidence? Because it was just the two of us, after so many years…. in our own, new house….”

Deeply in thought, her hand slides over her body, thinking back to what happened those days... But convinced it was merely just a coincidence, April shakes it off and continues packing.

And just as quickly their lives fall back into the usual, chaotic style and both Rafael and April are just happy they survived the day and can finally sleep. The big day of the move finally arrived, and now they both walk one last time through the empty old house.

            “Are you ready for our official life together now?” Rafael asks while he wraps his arm around her.

                    “I am this time,” April answers while tightly holding onto his arm.

One last look and they close the door and by that closing this chapter of their lives, opening and starting their new one together.

In a convoy, they make the long drive to their new home, each in their own car and a large van behind them, from the moving company they hired, with all their belongings in it.

After a long drive, they finally turn onto their new driveway and the moment they park their cars in front of the new house all the kids immediately jump out of the cars.

The moment Rafael opens the door from their new house, they burst inside and scatter all around in a hurry to claim the, in their opinions, perfect room.

Rafael and April start helping the movers to carry the boxes inside the new house, but soon, as drawn like a magnet, they both stand on the porch and stare at the dead-looking tree.

            “When will you remove it?” they suddenly hear a voice asking behind them.

Startled both Rafael and April turn around to see who dared to ask this stupid question. Tim, the youngest of all the kids, walks towards the tree and continues.

            “There are no leaves, so it must be dead,” and he gives the tree a kick while saying it. “Don’t ever think I will sit on that rocking chair; I will break all my bones when it collapses, and I get that branch on my head.”

Tim pushes against the tree with his foot one last time like he is trying to push the tree over which causes April to hold her breath, in fear something bad is about to happen. But of course, nothing happens, and Tim walks back inside again. April and Rafael are looking at each other, not sure what just happened, then look at the tree and finally walk back inside the house again as well.

After the first chaos, the rooms are finally divided and all the stuff is taken out of the van into the new house, they all finished the meal and now are in their own room.

April sits on the rocking chair underneath the tree, enjoying a beautiful night. Rafael comes out of the house, holding two glasses of wine in his hands and is sitting next to April, handing over her glass of wine.

April snuggles up against Rafael, really enjoying the moment.

            The summer goes by with the many sexual excesses at that mysterious tree. Even rainy autumn evenings do not stop the two happy lovers. And in the winter, when the entire country is covered in a blanket of snow, the tree in their back garden looks like a little piece of summer paradise on earth. Not a single snowflake can be found in a circle around it. Everyone beholding this sighting can’t understand a single thing and is not able to explain this mysterious event.

Rafael and April, enchanted by this mystery, use this situation to continue making love under the tree. Almost every day the two have sex together, each time ecstatic like it is their very first time.

            Spring finally arrives and all the flowers start to bloom in the meadows. Then, totally unexpected, the assumingly dead tree is completely covered in blossom. This is not the only mysterious thing about it, but the flowers don’t appear as the ‘regular’ blossom, they can best be described as small little hearts.

                        “I knew he wasn’t dead,” April proudly exclaimed.

            “It indeed is a special tree,” Rafael replies.

However, where all ‘regular’ trees shift from blossoms to leaves, this tree turns back to its usual ‘naked’ appearance.

And so, it repeated itself year after year. Rafael and April have fiery passionate lovemaking at the tree, which only blooms in the spring in a special way and otherwise looks dead.

But then, after just a decade of happiness and living together, disaster struck. Rafael dies which leaves April devastated by this loss all alone in this big house. When April, extremely emotional returns from the funeral, she instantly walks towards their special tree, and all curled up sits on its rocking chair. In her mind she thinks back at all those moments they had sex at this very exact place, tears running down her cheek. And at that moment a leaf falls onto her lap. Startled by it April gets up, taking a few steps back to have a good look at the tree and sees that it is covered with leaves in all different kinds of autumn colours. Every now and then a leaf falls down like the tree is crying.

The very next spring the tree had no blossom at all, and it never happened anymore ever since.

April can’t take it anymore, and all children recommend she moves out. Reluctantly she puts the house up for sale and moves to a small apartment where she spends the remaining time of her life.

*

            Five years later, a small red car turns onto the driveway of a remote piece of land. At the end arises a large, old, built in Victorian style, white house and behind that house is a large, old tree.

The small red vehicle stops in front of the house and a newlywed couple gets out. Together, while holding hands, look at this newly bought house.

            “It looks amazing Tyler,” the woman exclaims in delight.

The man, Tyler, wraps his arm around his partner and pulls her tightly against him.

“Just wait until you see the inside Michelle. Or the backside,” Tyler starts excited, “You will love it.”

Michelle smiles at Tyler, and together they walk towards the entrance. The moment Tyler opens the door, Michelle automatically wanted to walk inside but is held back by her new husband.

“Just one-moment young lady,” Tyler expresses with a mysterious smile on his face. “We are going to do this properly.”

And before Michelle can even ask about what he means, Tyler takes her in his arms and lift her. With his wife in his arms, he carries her over the threshold and walks into their new house. Carefully he puts her down on her feet again and gives her a sweet kiss.

“Welcome to our new home,” he says with a sweet smile on his face, “take a look around, I will bring some of our boxes inside. I expect the moving company will arrive soon as well.”

             The entire day, the two new residents are extremely busy unloading the van. And after a few hours of hard work, Michelle, while Tyler shows the workmen out, walks to the back garden. When Tyler arrives at the back garden as well, Michelle already stands next to the tree. Her hand slid over the trunk while walking around the tree. Like in a trance, Tyler observes this scenery. When Michelle notices his presence, she stands still and looks at him with desire. Like being enchanted, he walks towards her. Once standing close to her, Tyler gently grabs her head, tilts it a bit and then they start kissing passionately. In the heat of the moment, all clothes fly around. Looking deeply into each other’s eyes, they become one. The sparks fly, and sometime later they lie together, under the tree, reminiscing this intense lovemaking.

            “I don’t think this tree is dead,” Michelle  finally expresses.

Tyler gives Michelle one more intense kiss and then confirms her opinion; “I really think we will be happy here.”

Michelle snuggles up against him and nods confirming.

It is from that moment that, every spring, this mysterious tree blooms again. With little flowers which only can be described as little hearts.

©O.V. de Groot, 15 October 2022