Thing Number 2: Planting a Tree (A/N: In honor of Earth Day, you see XD...)

She tossed me a shovel, sweeping her arm in an arc towards the chalk circle she had drawn on the semi-grassy patch that she referred to as our front yard.

"Dig."

"You have to be kidding me."

"Nope. You agreed to do this, didn't you?"

"I didn't sign up for yard work."

"You've never done this, trust me."

"I've dug holes before."

"That's only the first part. It gets better."

"Oh, no. How many parts are there?"

"You'll see. Just dig! I'll even help you."

"How extremely generous."

"You know it," she laughed, tossing a shovel-full of dirt at me.

"Hey!" I brushed the grass and dirt from my t-shirt and retaliated.

From that point on more of the dirt ended up on us than the designated area for dumping it off, but it was definitely worth it.

Marie was just glad the hole got dug.

--x--

"There," I heaved a sigh, brushing dirt and sweat from my brow with the back of my hand. "Happy now? You have your wish."

Marie smiled innocently. I instantly knew something was up.

"Oh, gosh, what now?"

"Just follow me." She took my hand to lead me once more.

"Where are we going?" There was more dread in my voice than curiosity.

"You'll see. Just be patient."

"I'm an assassin! I typically don't have to be patient!"

She shot me a glance. It was a shaky subject between the two of us.

"I'm sorry. I just cannot fathom what it is my life has been missing that I can do with a three foot hole in the ground."

She stopped abruptly, where one of our neighbors' yards met the road. "This!"

I stared.

There lay a young (but heavy, I tell you) sapling, roughly 5 feet tall and still humorously thin. It had been carefully removed from the earth and was looking rather melancholy, abandoned by the side of the road.

"This? This is what I spent half an hour of solid digging for?"

Marie grinned. "Yep! Isn't it great?"

"It's a…tree!"

"Yeah. You have a problem with trees?"

"No! I just-a tree, and…half an hour, Marie!"

She mock glared at me. "Don't be selfish. This tree's brethren were sacrificed in order to make your notebook! You owe it. Besides, what better day to pay off your debt than Earth Day?"

"This isn't even the kind of tree they make paper from!" I paused, realizing. "It's Earth Day today?"

"Right-o."

"Oh." I gazed once more at the pathetic tree lying silently at my feet. It was like it was taunting me. And God did it ever look thirsty… "Okay."

Marie laughed. "That was all it took?"

"Evidently," I smiled, bending down and hauling the tree over one shoulder. "My gosh! This thing is twice as heavy as it looks!"

"Appearances are deceiving. You don't look like a government weapon."

"And you don't look like a pain in the neck…"

Marie brushed off the insult with a grin. "Case and point."

"How do you know these people don't want this? Maybe they're just waiting to plant it."

"They don't want it."

"How can you be sure?"

"I asked them."

"What?"

"Yeah. People don't bite, you know, Jason. The guy who lives here said his wife made him get rid of the tree before it got too old because she didn't want it to block the sun from the house."

"Block the sun? In Goa?" I shook my head. "Oh, well. Looks like two men have suffered on this thing's account."

"I wouldn't call this suffering, Jason."

"Point taken."

"Come on. Let's get that poor tree in the ground."

"Why do I have to carry it?"

"Because you're stronger than I am. Besides, this is for you."

"Yeah," I muttered under my breath, starting down the road behind her, "for me…"

--x--

I dropped the tree carefully into the hole, pushing the leftover dirt (that wasn't caked on Marie or me) around its delicate roots.

"Can I have the hose?" I straightened up, glancing back over my shoulder at Marie, who bent down to turn it on before taking a step towards me.

What neither of us saw until too late was the loop that the hose had made across her path. She yelped in surprise as snagged her sandaled foot, and she would have fallen flat on her face if I hadn't raced forward to catch her.

Had the hose been off, and had I seen the slickness of the grass I was about to step on, it would have been a valiant rescue. Unfortunately I wasn't that lucky.

I leapt forward.

Marie fell into me.

My sneaker lost its purchase on the ground and I landed hard on my back, Marie on top of me.

Needless to say we were both soaked.

Marie took one look at me and burst out laughing.

"You look so ridiculous!" She rolled off of me, trying in vain to shut off the hose's water supply, but she was laughing so hard that she didn't have the strength to turn the rusty old knob.

I pushed her hand away, doing it myself. "It's not that funny! You look the same as I do!" I grinned.

"Yeah, but-" she gasped, trying to suppress her giggling, "I can't see me!" She managed to control herself, but when she glanced back at me she broke down helplessly. "You're sooo wet!"

"Well, if you'll remember," I couldn't help laughing myself, "it's your fault! This was supposed to be for the tree, not us! So much for conservation…"

"Oh, be quiet." Marie brushed soaked strands of her hair out of her eyes, grinning. "I managed to fit three things you've never done in today: planting a tree, having a dirt war, and staging a water war! What more could you ask for?"

"Yeah," I laughed quietly, dusting myself off and offering my hand to Marie, who was still sprawled on the grass. "What else?"

The little tree finally got water, much to its relief, and I think I'm going to sleep better tonight than I ever have before. It took a solid fifteen minutes of scrubbing to get all the dirt off of me, I swear, but we had so much fun with the tree that now Marie wants to plant flowers to keep it company. I told her we'd have to see…