A Sweet Tree

A Sweet Tree

The bells dangling on the glass door chimed as Sara pushed it open and walked into Turner’s Ice Cream Parlour on the corner of 12th and Main streets. Cool air and the smell of fresh baked waffle cones rushed to greet her. Francine, the shop owner, paused and looked over her shoulder from the counter she was wiping down. She turned around and watched as Sara shuffled timidly toward the freezer case, eyeing the frozen tubs filled with assorted flavors: pistachio, rum raisin, oatmeal brown sugar cookie, strawberry, chocolate and vanilla.

“What can I get for you today?” Francine asked with a welcoming smile.

“Well, um, I’m not sure. I guess I’ll try the … daily special?” Sara replied nervously. She hoped Francine had picked up on the code word she had just dropped.

“Ahh. Okay then. One banana split coming right up,” Francine replied with a wink.

Sara had felt unsure about coming here – the whole idea seemed crazy. What was she doing? Her newly hired life coach, Marley, had encouraged her to come. She normally wouldn’t trust someone she had not even met in person yet, but she was desperate. Marley had replied to Sara’s email inquiry and strongly recommended that before they met, she go to this ice cream shop and ask for the “daily special.” Sara had considered it for a couple of days before she decided she had nothing to lose. At the very least she would just enjoy some ice cream.

Francine passed the fruity, chocolatey sundae over the counter, and Sara carried it to a small round table next to the window that looked out onto the street. She watched people walk by, some hurrying with purpose along to an appointment or to work. Some walking slower, enjoying the sights and charm of this small town.

Sara turned her attention to the task at hand – eating the banana split. As she raised a spoonful of whipped cream to her mouth, she looked around the cheerful, pink-wallpapered ice cream shop, surveying the people sitting at the tables scattered around it. Were they like her? Did they come here searching for answers to questions that could change their lives? Were they here for guidance and advice on important decisions that needed to be made?

A frazzled blonde woman at the table next to Sara was attempting to calm her two young children who were shooting spitballs and chasing each other around in circles. In the middle of their table sat a partially melted banana split and three unused spoons.

Just beyond them was a tall, lean Black man in a business suit with a patch over his left eye, spoon in hand poised over a banana split. He seemed to be looking around the room as well, his long legs stretched out, ankles crossed under the table. Near the front of the shop, a glum looking teenage girl wrapped in a cashmere sweater, head hung low, pushed her spoon around an ice cream bowl, scraping what was left of her banana split.

Sara wondered if they all had come here with the same purpose, or was it just a coincidence that they had ordered banana splits as well?

Just then, a blinding light flashed, interrupting her thoughts. Like the beam of a pulsar, it swung through and smacked Sara right in the head.

“What the --?” Stunned, Sara put her hands up to her head and felt all around it. All seemed okay, no blood and nothing hurt. Still, she felt off-balance. A strange sense washed over her. She was no longer in the ice cream shop.

She tried to get her bearings, looking down to see that she was no longer sitting in a chair but standing on grass. She heard the high-pitched chirping sounds of birds in the air. Then, swoosh. Sara jerked her head to the left just as a deer brushed her side, running past at full speed.

All of this was so odd. She could still taste the sugary pineapple topping from the banana split on her tongue. What in the world was she doing here? In a . . . meadow?

Then she remembered – the code word, the magic. Sara needed answers and she was excited now that she seemed to be on her way to finding them.

She had so many things on her mind. So much uncertainty about what to do next with her life. The layoff had been a blow to her ego and her bank account. But the breakup with Tom had made it so much worse. Now her parents, urging her to move back across the country to live with them, to sort things out. What was the right thing to do? She loved this small town and really wanted to make it work. All of this was why she had hired Marley, which led her to this.

Sara held her hands up in front of her face and counted. Ten fingers; okay, focus was good. She stepped forward slowly, testing that her feet still worked correctly. The deer had disappeared on the horizon at the edge of the meadow where Sara could see the shimmer of water.

But what caught her eye most was the tree. Standing in the center of the meadow like a beacon with numerous sturdy-looking gnarly branches extending from its thick trunk. An abundance of verdant green leaves dressed the branches, making the tree look both vibrant and ancient.

Curiosity propelled Sara forward toward the center of the meadow and to the tree. Underneath it, she saw the Black man in the business suit with the patch over his eye, sitting exactly the same way he had in the ice cream shop. Leaned up against the trunk, his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, relaxed. He chewed on a blade of grass, smiling as he watched Sara and the others from the ice cream shop slowly make their way toward him.

The young mother, with her children on either side of her holding her hands, arrived first and exchanged a few words with the man. And the teenage girl in the cashmere sweater looked over in Sara’s direction as she walked hesitantly toward the group.

As if to direct her, a gull ascended from the water in the distance, glided over the land and swooped down in front of Sara, beckoning her forward. As she arrived at the tree, the man smiled the same welcoming smile Francine had when Sara entered the ice cream shop.

The young mother motioned to a spot next to her where Sara could sit. Her children sat quietly, hands in their laps. They seemed in awe of their new surroundings, looking around at the birds and animals and up at the tree branches looming overhead.

The businessman knelt down on one knee and looked at the women, the girl and the children. Then, he spoke.

“You all took a leap of faith and wound up here. You came because you are dealing with challenges and questions in your lives. Some of you are at a crossroads and are looking for guidance.”

They all nodded their heads. Listening intently, eagerly.

“There are no answers here, though.” He looked around at them all.

Sara felt a crush of disappointment. Then anger. Just as she began formulating in her head the nasty email she would send Marley when she returned, the man spoke again.

“There are no answers anywhere. Because they are inside of you. The same leap of faith that you took in coming here. The same way that you followed your heart and trusted your instincts to make it to this place. That is the same way you will arrive at your answers. They are only within. You already know what to do.”

Sara gazed at the tree, thinking about what the man had said.

The way back to the ice cream shop was gentler. Incandescent light enveloped Sara and she was deposited softly back into her chair at the small round table in front of the window looking out on the street.

She gazed down at her empty sundae dish and then out the window. Across the street the young mother was pulling her children away in a wagon, and the teenager smiled as she opened a car door to get in.

As she stood up to leave, Sara noticed a plaque on the wall just to the left of the window. She hadn’t noticed it before when she was too preoccupied with her problems and with eating her banana split.

She shuffled closer, squinting to read it:

This site holds a profound history and spiritual significance to the Cherokee people. For generations, this land was used for gatherings and healing rituals near the sacred Cedar Tree. Please respect the sanctity of this place and its enduring connection to Native American heritage.

From the angle at which she stood to the window now, Sara could make out a few gnarly branches extending from a tree behind the building. Her eyes grew wide at the sight. In a bewildered haze, she made her way to the front of the store toward the door. On the way she saw the Black man in the business suit with the patch over his eye sitting at the same table in the same relaxed way, legs stretched, and ankles crossed. His hands were folded across his chest as he leaned back with his eyes closed, a smile on his face.

Sara walked by, glancing at the papers spread out on his table. On top was a stack of business cards that read “Marley, Life Coach.”

Pushing open the door to the outside, Sara realized she knew what to do.