The Tree!
People's relationships in life are like a tree. The tree itself is like a person and all the pieces of that tree are the things in our lives.
You have leaves, branches, fruit, flowers, bugs, and animals.
Each of these different things represent different elements of someone's life, such as; family, friends, dates, lovers, random people and even pets or animals in their lives.
Explaining the different levels of love as well as explaining what love is and how it works might be easier to understand if we work with an idea like a tree.
Lets say that every part of the tree represents an element.
1. Branches = family
2. Leave = friends
3. Fruit = dates
4. Animals = pets and animals
5. Flowers = random people
6. Bugs = lovers.
1. Ok so every tree has branches just as every person has family. They are just as much a part of you as you are to yourself.
2. Leaves on a tree come and go as often as friends will come and go in a person's life. Some last longer than others but they have never been a constant part of a person's life.
3. Fruit on a tree is long lasting but in time it will either rot or ripen, all the same it will fall from the tree just as all dates will rotten out or fall out in a person's life. Dating is fun at the time but in time the moments will pass and where one fruit falls another will be waiting to grow in its place next year.
4. Animals in a tree may come to visit or come to live so the time they are there is always different just as with the animals and pets in a person's life. People are surrounded by animals all the time, even if they don't have pets; they come and go and the amount of time they stick around varies from animal to animal.
5. Flowers on a tree can be rare or can happen every year but there can never be a flower that lasts very long just as with the random people in daily life. People will come and go all the time and some are more noticed than others but all are important in the end.
6. Bugs, the more complicated to describe because can be so many different kinds on a tree at once or there could be the one that stands out above the rest just as with the different lovers in a person's life. A person may go a whole life time with one or two different lovers or they may end up having multiple lovers, some times at the very same time. Love is a complicated thing all on its own but when you realize there is more than one person for you at the same time, it makes it pretty hard to know what to do. Bugs on a tree can make you feel the same way; take the ants for example, many different kinds of ants could be crawling on the same tree and working together in perfect harmony but something happens to some of the ants then the others get confused and have to back track to find out what the problem is. On the other hand you have bugs like the Locust or cicada, most people believe these rather noisy tree lovers travel in big groups but in truth they only seem that way once they have reached the part of the tree they like. A locust has to crawl from its hole and reach a tree to hatch its shell long before it can fly and it has to do all of this on its own. Now, what do these bugs have to do with loves you may ask? Well, in life different people have different life styles when it comes to love. Some are free living and others choose a mate and settle down, others have a long journey to go before they find the right one and others find this person right a way. Bugs are much like people when it comes to the life styles of love. We all travel in different cycles but in the end we should all mange to find the right path for us. Life can be hard sometimes but if we take the time to look around we could all learn a lot from many of the things around us every single day. We just need to learn to open our eyes!
…
The tree!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is Twilight or owned by another person.
Summery: How to explain the different levels of love? I'll use a tree to help me explain. All human and have been friends since childhood, teenagers now.
Bella's POV.
I had been sitting outside, under this tree for many hours now. I was just out for a walk and ended up stopping to rest under the shade. I never expected my thoughts to run away with me as they had but before I knew it my mind was giving me a whole new way to look at the world. Love was a complicated thing but it was even more difficult to explain what it was and how it worked. What if we used the things around us, things that we see every day to explain? … Or at the very least to understand it ourselves. Could something as simple and yet as complicated as a tree be able to help us understand love? I was beginning to believe it could.
"Bella!" I heard a voice call from somewhere in the distance, it wasn't just any voice though it was Edward. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you, I was worried about you!"
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to make anyone worry." I said honestly but still making no move to leave my spot under the tree.
"What are you doing out here?" Edward asked a little more forcefully as he came closer to me, under the shade now.
"I just needed a minute to myself so I went out for a walk." I answered simply but that didn't help, Edward did not look pleased with the simplicity of my answer or maybe it was just my answer.
"BELLA!" He sounded a little out of breath and his face was tinted red with his anger … or maybe it was from his stress. "I told you before that I didn't want you out walking around alone. Its dangerous and you know how easy you can get lost!"
"I'm sorry Edward, I just needed to get out of there." I whispered softly while looking up past him to the sky, it was very difficult not to stare at his over the top gorgeousness but I managed.
"I wish you would have at least waited for me to get back." He said a lot softer now as he came and sat in the grass beside me.
"I'm sorry, I just couldn't handle all the couples in that house being all cuddly and cute." I said as I wrinkled my nose, it was nice to see them all so happy but I'm not, so it's a little harder.
"Yeah, they can be a little hard to bear sometimes." Edward agreed while he was stretching out against the tree.
Alice had Jasper and Rose had Emmett while Edward and I were the only ones in our little group that didn't have anyone. I personally feel that love sucks, its pointless and cruel; that is unless you actually have somebody to love. That makes the difference but Edward didn't quite agree with me there, he just claimed that no one that asked him out was the right one for him. Ha, I didn't believe that there was a right one for me. But given what I had been thinking about today, maybe I was wrong. Another thought occurred to me as I thought back to the tree thing.
"You know what, Edward." I said suddenly after a moment of silence. "You are my favorite leaf on my tree!"
At first he just gave me this strange look but then he chuckled at me. "Ok Bella, you have to explain that one to me!" Edward said as he continued to laugh and it was musical to me, I always enjoyed listening to Edward laughing with me because he was my very best friend; Alice can't find out or she might kill me.
I ended up explaining my new thought process about the things on the tree that can represent other things and important people in our lives and that leaves were our friends. Edward was defiantly my favorite leaf because he was always there for me. He understands me better than anyone else I know and he had always been protective of me, always watching out for me. Like this for example, Edward hates when I go off on my own. One time when we were younger, I went for a walk and ended up five blocks away from home and no idea how I got there or even how to get home. I was crying when he rode his bike past and found me. Edward had always said he was just out riding around and happened across me but from the relief I remember seeing on his face when he saw me, he had to have been looking for me. I loved that side of him. Of course there was also the side of him that loved to pick on me and tease me but I guess since he didn't allow anyone else at school to get away with it then it was ok. I could handle Edward because I knew he would never really say or do anything to hurt me.
"So …" Edward started hesitantly after I finished explaining to him about the trees and stuff. "If I'm a leaf what does that make Mike? You know, your boyfriend and all. Is he a fruit or a bug?"
"EWW! Edward that is gross!" I practically shrieked at him and through a hand full of grass at his face. "Mike is NOT my boyfriend or even my friend really. Mike is more like my stalker so that would probably put him as a flower."
He thought about that for a moment. "Huh, I think I really like that much better." Edward's grin was from ear to ear. "Hey Bella, can I go to school tomorrow and call Mike a flower all day?"
"Edward!" I huffed and then sighed with a chuckle, he never gave up and for some strange reason that Newton kid really bugged him.
"Well in any case, its getting late." Edward said after his laughter died down enough to talk normally again. "Can I walk you home now or do I need to pick you up and carry you home?"
"You wouldn't dare." I said but quickly changed my mind as I saw the look he was giving me, he would dare and I would not be happy about it either. "Ok, ok, ok. I guess we can walk home."
"That's what I though." Edward chuckled softly before standing up, dusting off his pants and turning back to offer a hand to help me to my feet, he was always around to help me out.
I hadn't realized just how far I had walked until Edward started leading me back home. He was right, I would have gotten lost if I had tried to walk myself home. I had no idea where we were going because as soon as I thought I knew, he would make a turn where I swear I came straight from. I don't know how he did it but somehow he managed to get us back to his place, hours and hours later. If I didn't know any better I'd say someone implanted a GPS thing inside of his brain or something. He never got lost, anywhere.
"Belly's back!" Emmett yelled while picking me up and swinging me around in the air, I hadn't even made it inside yet.
"Emmett!" I yelled as I struggled to get free but he was too strong. "Emmett Cullen, let me go! Put me down, please Emmett!"
"Take it easy with her, Emm." Edward insisted and then Emmett carried me the rest of the way into the house.
"Aww, I was only having a little fun." Emmett defended himself as he finally put me back on my feet, we were all now standing in the living room where Alice, Jasper and Rose were all waiting for us to come back.
"Took you all long enough." Rosalie commented as Emmett went to go sit beside her on the love seat.
"Oh come on, Rose. Its not like we had any plans or anything, Edward and Bella are entitled to a life." Jasper said from where he sat with Alice smiling like a fool on his lap.
"YEAH, we had nothing planned and Bella said she was going for a walk so of course, Edward would go looking for her." Alice chimed in with her pixie-perfect, hyper voice.
"Is there something you guys want to do now?" I asked nicely but inside I was hoping to go take a long nap or something.
"Oh no you don't." Edward said as he stood behind me. "You're going straight upstairs and taking a nap. You walked a very long way, twice today and need to rest now."
"But you walked just as much as I did." I said stubbornly even though I really did want to go take a nap, I didn't want him to think I would just because he was telling me to.
"Aww, but I wanted to play with my little sister!" Emmett whined in the middle of Edward and I talking.
"HEY! What does that make me then?" Alice asked and then pouted on Jasper's lap, with a huff she crossed her arms.
Jasper chuckled softly and kissed her cheek. "Adorable, my Love. That apparently makes you very adorable!"
I love them all to death but as they all got comfortable and cuddly with each other, I grew more and more tired. I couldn't stand it much longer, considering that's why I left in the first place. I stood there in the door way, watching them all kiss and talk just like they always did and I wondered why it never bugged me this much before. I mean, the stuff they do never used to bug me this much but for some reason, today it really bothered me.
"Ok, well I think I may need that nap now." I said and as soon as I did, Edward started pushing me towards the stairs. "Ok, ok. I'm going, Edward. … Good night everyone!"
"Night Bella!" Everyone down stairs yelled up.
"Ok, Edward you can stop pushing me now." I said when we reached the top of the stairs and was about to turn towards the spare bedroom but something pulled my arm back and spun me.
"Where do you think you're going?" Edward asked as he pulled me into him, he looked very confused.
"I'm going to go take a nap?" I was also confused because he was the first one to say that I needed to go sleep, wasn't he?
"Yeah, but you're going the wrong way." Edward said as he lead me down the hall and towards his room. "You know my bed is much softer and besides the spare bed is flooded with water."
"How on Earth did that happen?" I asked a little shocked.
"Emmett." He answered simply with a shrug. "He was trying some kind of experiment or something, anyway, come on."
Edward lead me all the way to his room and through the door. This wasn't the first time I'd been in his room but it was the first time he lead me straight to his bed. Edward gently pushed me down on the bed, once we were close enough, and started to cover me with his blankets. I wasn't sure why he was trying to tuck me in like I was a little child but at the same time, Edward did some strange things. Once I was perfectly tucked into the covers and feeling very comfortable, he was right it was softer, Edward sat on the edge of his bed facing me. I wasn't sure what he was doing and at first I thought he was going to ask me something but he didn't. He was just sitting there, softly smiling down at me. It was slightly weird but at the same time, I couldn't help but smile back at him.
"Ok, what's up Edward?" I asked after another minute of him just sitting there, smiling at me like that.
"What?" He asked softly. "Nothing is up, you should try sleeping though. You had a long day today."
"How can I sleep with you just sitting there, watching me with that smile?" I asked as I tried to sit up but he pushed me back down.
"I'm bothering you." Edward stated with a small frown. "I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone so you can sleep then." He tried to get up off the bed but I grabbed his arm before he could get too far.
"I never said that!" I said as I pulled him back down next to me. "Its just a little odd. What are you doing just sitting here, watching me like that? It makes me think you want to talk or something."
"I just wanted to watch over you." Edward said as he sat back down. "The last time you were here you didn't sleep very well."
"Well its not like I can sleep if you sit there, watching me." I said and then started blushing. "At least lay down with me if you're going to stay here. Besides, you need to sleep as well."
"Ok." He answered back and then laid down beside me under the covers and he turned on his side to face me. "Better?"
"Much." I answered back but my blush wouldn't go away, he was very, very close to me and I had never slept next to anyway before; of course, other than my parents.
Even when Alice, Rose and I would have sleepovers we all got our own beds. Both of them had plenty of room for it in their houses and when we all came to my house we slept in the living room. Our living room had two big couches and my dad's reclining chair. It wasn't much but it worked because it was very rare that we all stayed at my place. Mostly we all just came to Alice's. I hadn't realized how long my mind had gotten off track until I felt Edward shifting beside me and somehow his right arm ended up wrapped around me. In his sleep Edward had pulled me closer to him and was sleeping so soundly that I was afraid to try and move because I didn't want to wake him. Edward was my very best friend and he rarely looked like he ever got enough sleep, look who's talking right? Well his sleep matters more to me than my own. After some time of just laying here, watching him dream peacefully I ended up falling asleep and it wasn't just a numb darkness, it was peaceful.
