Trees of Fear

``No no no no no no no no no...!''

``Why? It's just a harmless thing!'' Julian replied in exasperation.

``No! It is NOT a harmless thing,'' Ida shrieked uncontrollably. ``That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard!''

``Look, it's just a walk in the park! How can it be disgusting? Are you seriously off your rocker?''

``It's the trees,'' Ida replied quietly.

``The trees?'' Julian said quizzically. He thought back of the times that they had walked, hand-in-hand, through the city on their dates. Those were blissful moments, the times they had spent in the city. But they had both graduated and thought it was time to take their relationship and lives to a new level, and had moved to the suburbs.

``But you see trees on TV every day! And when we were still in the city, you walked past them too! What's that got to do with walking in the park?''

``The trees on TV aren't real,'' Ida started replying, her face covered in sweat from the anxiety. ``Aand the trees in the city were, well, small. But the park has really large trees, and those scare the hell out of me.''

Julian stared at Ida with a raised eyebrow, his classic are-you-fucking-serious look. Ida looked at him for a bit before staring at her feet, sheepishly as she twiddled her fingers.

``I cannot believe this crap,'' Julian muttered under his breath. ``You're telling me that you have a phobia of trees?''

``Dendrophobia. It is diagnosed. I'm not making this up, Julian. You have to believe me.'' Her voice was pleading as she gripped Julian's right hand with both of hers. He glanced down and saw that her hands were turning white from the strong grip, and her petite veins were showing through her skin. It was clear that the mere mention of trees was triggering anxiety within her.

His disbelief melted away when he looked into her wide fearful eyes which had brimmed in tears. He felt a strong sense of pity and an inexplicable feeling of sadness. Without a word, he shook off her hands and hugged her tightly, pressing her against his chest as closely as he could.

``Alright then Ida, we'll not go to the park.''

(Based on an exercise generated by WriteThis - 09-May-2014 21:42:32)