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As a relatively new resident of the neighborhood, you were still finding your place among the colorful people who lived here. Most of your days were spent wandering around seeing what antics they got up to, and more than often getting brought into it yourself. In your downtime, you tended to the small garden growing off to the side of your house.
The garden itself was rudimentary by your standards. You had grown up surrounded by farms and gardens the size of the neighborhood itself, packed full of greens, spices, and flowers. Trees so tall you couldn’t see the tops of them, pumpkins as big as your head, and peppers in every color of the rainbow. When you first moved here you knew it would take time, but regardless you wistfully thought about the potential your small garden had. It consisted of a few rows of in season-crops, some perennials, caladium, and some herbs like basil and thyme for good measure. It was all painstakingly manicured and cared for, and you were extremely proud of it, despite its small size.
The real center of the garden, however, was the apple tree you had nursed back to health. When you had moved in, the poor thing was a tangled mess of dead branches and insects that had burrowed their way into the bark. After a few months of patience, dedication, and an abysmal amount of pruning, blooms started to form, resulting in glossy, scarlet fruit ready to be picked. You caught yourself admiring the tree often.
You were so busy tending to that tree that you almost missed the eyes staring down at you, one day. It was a warm spring day, and your harvest for the season had just begun. You were balancing on a stepladder, reaching for the last of the apples that had ripened when you noticed that Wally’s shutters were open slightly. While it wasn’t unusual for home to have a mind of its own, leaving windows and doors open was certainly an oddity. Cocking your head a bit, you looked closer and saw Wally himself staring at you. Unsure of what to do, you smiled sheepishly.
“Hello, neighbor.” He said, giving his signature grin.
“Hey, Wally.” You called back, dropping the final apple in your basket.
“What’re you up to?”
In response, you held up the basket of apples so he could see them. His face immediately lit up, staring in fascination. You couldn’t help but chuckle. “If you want one, you can always swing by. I could use the company.”
“I’ll be over in a minute.”
You nod as the shutters close with a loud thud. It was always nice when you got to speak with Wally. He was very charming, after all. He was the first one to introduce himself when you had moved here and was always enthusiastic to include you in whatever antics he was up to.
Climbing down the stepladder, you set your basket down and brush off your clothes, small clumps of dirt and leaves falling to the ground. You sat on the iron-wrought bench just outside of your garden, letting out a small sigh. It was certainly nice to sit and admire the weather after being up in a tree all morning. A small breeze came through, causing the leaves to rustle and the sound of windchimes to float through the air.
Suddenly, the wind picked up, prickling at your skin and whisking your bandana right off of your head. You sat up, ready to chase it down, only to see Wally strolling towards you with it in his hand.
You grinned “Perfect timing, huh?”
“It’s a gift of mine” He shrugged, smiling back.
“Of course it is”
“Speaking of gifts…” He stared at the basket near your feet.
“Right,” you said, picking it up. “How about a trade? You give me my bandana back, and you get this.”
His eyes widened. “All of them?”
You nodded, holding your hand out. He hastily handed the bandana back to you, and you secured it back to your head. After making sure it would not blow away again, you handed Wally the basket. He was practically vibrating with excitement.
“May I sit?” He asked, motioning to the bench.
“Of course.” You moved over, making room for Wally.
He took out one of the apples and held it out in both hands, looking very content. You had never seen someone so transfixed by an apple before. It gave you a tinge of pride, though, knowing that his admiration was directed towards something you had made. You were, quite literally, showing him the fruits of your labor. After a few moments, he nodded to himself.
“I’m impressed.”
“Thank you, I’ve been working on that tree ever since I got here.”
There was a small pause and he lowered the apple.
“I know”
“Hm?”
“I’ve seen the progress you have made”
“Yeah, that makes sense. I’m out there almost every day working on it” you nodded. “I lost my pruning shears trying to fix it. Who knew those branches would be so tough?” You grinned, remembering your initial bewilderment.
“How on earth do you break a gardening tool that easily?”
“Oh, they were old,” you reclined in your seat. “They belonged to my mother”.
You missed your mother dearly. Leaving home was difficult enough, but having to say goodbye to your parents made your heart hurt. You visited every once and a while, but it wasn’t nearly enough for you. You still had those broken garden shears, for pete's sake .
“Did your mother have a garden?”
You chuckled “You could call it that. It was huge…Probably bigger than our house.”
“How did your folks have enough space for that? I can only imagine your house, then. Ferns in the kitchen sink, carrots growing from the roof, lavender sticking out of your chimney…”
I shook my head and laughed. “I grew up in the country, lots of space, good soil… sprawling gardens, orchards, vineyards, farms…they were everywhere.”
“Tell me about it.”
“What?”
“Tell me about where you grew up.”
“Ah. I mean, I don’t want to ramble. I get really sentimental, and I’d hate to bore you-”
“Neighbor, it’s impossible for you to bore me” he crossed his legs and leaned in closer.
“I want to learn more about you, tell me everything.”
You hesitated, staring back at Wally. He seemed so intent on talking to you, and you couldn’t deny how flattering it felt. Maybe it was the charisma, or maybe it was his proclivity for apples, but regardless you found yourself drawn to him too. You wondered if he realized how flushed you had gotten. Judging by his amused expression, he probably had.
“Well, it's a little town on the other side of the woods. It was basically centered around the different harvests of the year. There were corn mazes in autumn, a harvest fair every summer, and people would come from out of town just to buy flowers during the spring. It was like something out of a book.
Wally just nodded, resting his chin on his hand.
“You would’ve loved the apple festival.” You grinned. “It was a whole day dedicated to picking apples, making apple-related dishes, and anything else remotely related to apples.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! I remember there was this foot race in the orchards I would always compete in as a kid. We had to get as many apples as you could carry in your basket. You won if you made it back to the town square in ten minutes with more apples than everyone else.”
“Sounds tiring.”
You paused and smiled. “I remember one year I was so confident in winning. I had gotten so many apples they were spilling out of my basket. Then, a girl came up and shoved me .”
“What? That wasn’t nice of her.”
“It sure wasn’t. I was devastated. I remember being on the verge of tears from that. I thought I had lost right then and there.”
“That’s horrible! Did nobody help?”
You shook your head. “After a few minutes, though, I just picked up my basket and ran as fast as I could. I have no idea where it came from, but I was so determined to make it back that I just brushed myself off and didn't look back. I remember them counting down the last ten seconds while I was just full speed ahead towards the square.”
“Did you win?”
“Nope.”
Wally sat up and frowned. “That must have been hard.”
“Actually, I remember being really proud of myself. It surprised me in the moment, but it made me realize how strong I was, as silly as that sounds. I was battered and bruised, upset, and out of breath but I still saw it through and did my best.”
“That’s a valuable lesson to learn” Wally mused.
“Yeah.”
“That reminds me of this one time. I was with Barnaby, trying to teach him how to paint. He was getting upset because it wasn’t as good as mine. Why, he almost wanted to quit altogether!” He shook his head in disbelief. “After a minute or two, though, he picked the brush back up and tried again.”
“How did it turn out?”
“It was a beautiful mess. The lines were crooked, the paint was dripping, and the colors all blended together. It didn’t look like mine at all, but Barnaby was so proud. It made me love that painting all the more.”
It was very endearing to hear him talking about his friends with so much adoration. He was practically glowing.
“Neighbor, when I said I was impressed earlier, I didn’t just mean the apple.”
Your heart skipped a beat as he said that.
“The truth is, you impress me.”
He reached out a hand, resting it on top of yours. It sent shockwaves through your body. Your heart was practically bursting out of your chest with how hard it was beating.
What is he trying to say?
“Even when you first moved in, it felt like I had known you for years. I know the others agree with me, too. It really does take someone special for that to happen.” He said. “It’s not easy to dazzle me like you have.”
“Wally…”
“You are very special to me.”
Your brain was short-circuiting thinking of how to reply. You had been drawn to Wally since he introduced himself to you the first day you were here. It was always something that lingered in the back of your mind as you interacted with him, and suddenly it was being reciprocated.
“You’re special to me too.” You said quietly.
“That’s wonderful.” Wally said. He took your hand in his eagerly. “I’m glad you feel the same.”
You continued like that long into the afternoon. You told him more stories of your humble farm town, your parents, and your fondest memories. He, in turn, told you stories of him and the gang getting into all sorts of shenanigans. He made it his personal mission to make you laugh so much that your stomach was sore. You two had done this before, sharing tales of the past, but it felt inexplicably different. It was like a weight had been lifted from you. Eventually, the afternoon light faded into dusk, covering everything in amber and gold hues. The breeze had died down, making the neighborhood silent besides the distant chirping of birds.
Wally gazed at the rapidly setting sun. “I must leave. If I don’t return soon, home will be very worried.”
“Of course, I didn’t mean to keep you for too long”
“No worries, you can keep me as long as you would like.” He gave you a grin, which made you giggle.
“I’m very glad you came over, Wally.”
“I am too. I hope this means I can visit you even more.”
You nod enthusiastically. Wally then stood up and looked down at you, pausing momentarily. Then, he began to stifle laughter. You were about to ask what exactly was so funny, when you reached out a hand and plucked something out of your hair. He held it up for you to see. It was a leaf from the apple tree. You grinned, joining his laughter. Pulling yourself off the bench, you took a deep breath to compose yourself
“Until tomorrow, neighbor.” He said gently.
“Until then.” You reply.
As you watch him stroll back to home with the basket of apples in hand, you shake your head in disbelief. The events of today were still being processed. They’d probably be processing for a while, in all honesty. In that moment though, you could only think of one thing.
…maybe you should invest in more apple trees.