Earlier that morning it had seemed a perfect choice—something that would last as long as the distance between us. Now it just seemed designed to ensure that I looked a mess. My hair was tangled, my arms were covered in dirt, and I could feel a trickle of sweat run down my back. “Wow, a walking forest!” Ryan laughed as I approached. “What’s this? Birnam wood approaching Dunsinane? Have you come to defeat me? To prove once and for all that you can’t escape your fate?” “Umm, help?” I replied, attempting to untwist a length of hair from one of the branches. The smell of lemons filled the air around me as Ryan gently untwisted my hair and took the tree from my arms. “So what’s this all about?” he asked, a smile making his eyes twinkle. “A gift,” I said. “The gardener at the nursery promised me that this tree will last over a hundred years and produce a healthy crop of juicy apples each year. I thought we could plant it today and then when you get back home …”
