Cherries

Ronnie called. He asked if I wanted to go on an adventure. I said, Sure. We went for a walk and when I asked where we were going, he said, You'll see. He had a basket in his hand. We stopped at the base of a tree. I looked up. There were cherries. So many cherries. A cherry tree by a chain link fence in a neighborhood. There were dogs on the other side of the chain link fence. A pit bull and a long-haired chihuahua and a collie. All barking. Ronnie said, Curt, I'll hold the basket, you climb the tree. I didn't ask questions. I started climbing. I don't know when I last climbed a tree. Not since I was very young. Eight? Nine? I climbed higher and higher. I picked cherries. I tossed them into Ronnie's basket. A woman approached Ronnie. She asked what was going on. She said that the tree was technically a part of her property. Ronnie said, Sorry. He said, We were just picking cherries. We'll make you a cherry pie. She said, Ok. She said, Next time you come around to pick cherries, just check with me so that I can put my dogs in the house. She said, I've gotten threats. She said, People have threatened to poison my dogs and my dogs are my life. I stood still in the tree and listened to the whole thing. I ate a cherry and listened. I spit out the pit and listened. And then, when she left, I stepped forward. The branch sagged beneath my weight. I groped to find a branch. My hands sought something. Anything. I found only air and leaves and cherries. I fell. I hit the ground. I looked up into the cherry tree. Ronnie was above me. He said, Curt! Curt! You alright? I nodded. But I didn't really know what was happening. Then I thought, I fell from a tree. I thought, I am not a young man anymore. And I felt the pain trembling through my body. And I picked myself up and stretched. I said, I'm ready. Ronnie said, For what? I said, For more adventure.