The Tree at the Lake
By Diane Davies-Dixon
For 20 years, Serenity and her family spent their summers at
the lake. The year before, a new family
spent the summer there too. They had a son named Jack. Serenity and Jack fell in love. They spent endless afternoons and evenings
lying beneath the weeping willow that Serenity was so anxious to face once
again. Underneath this tree is where
they shared their dreams of their future together and the secrets of their
past. This is their tree. It is their place.
The grass was cool and moist beneath her bare feet as she
made her way through the picnic area to the woods that surrounded the lake. The
trees overhead gave cover to the rising sun.
Each step a painful reminder of the steps she took one year ago to the
day. The deer scurried away as she made her
way through the woods to her beloved weeping willow tree; The one she bared her
soul beneath to the only man she ever loved.
She pushed her long dark hair back behind her ears and
breathed deeply. She slowed down as she moved
closer to the edge of the woods. The
birds sang merrily from where they were perched high up in the trees.
“Oh Jack,” whispered Serenity.
She stopped walking and kneeled down, tucking her long black
skirt under her knees. She put her head in her hands and sobbed. The moist earth seeped through to her skin, but
she didn’t care. She wasn’t ready to go
on. The strength she felt when she entered
the woods vanished. Can’t face the tree, what it might tell me. Gone was the strength
to face the tree at the edge of the lake.
Arriving was the pain inside of her that sucked the breath
out of her. On her hands and knees, she
stared down at the dirt she rested upon trying to summon her strength from the
earth to continue on. Breathing in the
scent of the damp ground, she closed her eyes and counted one, two, three, four, five . .
.
Opening them, she exhaled and began to rise up from the
ground and dust herself off of leaves and dirt.
With strength ever so slightly renewed, she planted her feet more firmly
on the ground and set forth walking once again.
“Please help me through this,” said Serenity out loud.
In a quickened pace, she made her way to the weeping willow
tree. Standing under it she felt a cool
breeze pass over her bare arms and up her legs, but the leaves on the tree
remained still. Again the breath came
out of her, and she sank to the ground.
She was not alone. It is Jack who
she felt with her.
Frozen in time, her mind began to race through the events of
that night one year before. Jack and
Serenity met under the weeping willow tree.
It was the last night of the summer that either of them would spend at
the lake. The weeping willow sat at the
edge of the woods just along the lake.
It was the most passionate night they spent together under that tree,
protected by its embrace. They
skinny-dipped in the moonlight and gazed at the stars, holding on tight to each
other, forgetting about the hours passing by for as long as they could. The ripples of water that blanketed the lake
were the only witnesses to their love.
Then it came time to part.
They said their goodbye’s with heavy hearts and wet eyes and promises to
return. Neither one of them looked back
as they walked their separate ways back to their families.
Waking up from her reverie, she glanced over at the trunk of
the tree. Jack and Serenity, 8-8-90 til
forever was still there, carved into their weeping willow. She smiled at the tree and made her way over
to run her fingers across the bark, feeling each imperfect letter and
treasuring every curve of Jack’s wood work, of his existence.
She had avoided coming to this tree all summer. She never once swam in the lake. She never saw Jack again after that summer. He was sent on a special mission with the
Marines a week after summer vacation and never returned. Serenity finished writing her first book of
poems titled: For Jack--In Memory of Us.
Skinny Dip
By Diane Davies-Dixon
Ripples of water
Caressing skin
Witness to love
So rare
Dancing moonlight
Across the lake
Where lovers
Indulge
In their
Own delight
Gently encircling
Naked souls
The water
Brings them
To life
Smoothness
Skin against skin
Soft and inviting
Bodies entwined
They bring each other
To life
Skinny dipping
