(short story)

The aroma of the first peach fruits in the garden of Ann and Antoine, the young couple in their late twenties, was actually angelic. They planted it at the third anniversary of their marriage. The divine looking peaches were so sweet that bearded Antoine can`t help but smiling, “The fruit flavor resembles your lovely lips!”

Ann, a fancy freckled blonde, called to mind her childhood and like a butterfly frolicked and flittered around the festive tree, “I have never thought that I will be happy as a small girl at this tree! Just look at its smoochie-woochie leaves and its love-dovey fruits!”  

While sitting at a wooden bench, brought together at this lovely symbol of their five-year-old marriage, Antoine and Ann plunged deeply in their love gibberish remembering the slightest details of the whole process of picking and planting, fertilizing and pruning their passionately perfect peach.

That starlit night was one of the most romantic in the life of a caught in love couple. The whole night an amour cupid flied fretfully over their summer cottage. Deep at night, for several times they ran out to see their tree full of fist size peaches.

However, as it often happens, the morning proved one of the eternal truths — the evil always chases the good and the good is always not far from the evil. While approaching their tender tree, the couple got frozen not knowing what to say. It was logged ruthlessly right at the roots by some hard and harsh hand. Ann shrieked out and sobbed silently; Antoine looked around and took an axe viciously.

“Hey you!” Peter, a middle aged neighbor, yelled out through a hole in their wooden fence. “It was done by our well respected blue stocking Madam, I mean Ms. Polanski. I noticed her sneaking from your garden at 5.45 in the morning.”

“Ms.Polanski?! With her educational background…and senior age…How did it happen?!” Antoine was ready to go berserk.“Her university years taught her nothing!”     

“I guess that her white hair did not bring the life wisdom! She planted a peach tree of the same sort, like you, but it dried out. She cursed a lot about it… ”

Antoine rushed decisively to the garden gates, “OK. I`ll give this old coffee pot a lesson right now!”

Ann caught his sleeve and cried out, “Don`t do it! I don`t want to bring you food to prison!”

Peter cleared the throat, “Calm down buddies. She`s already been taken by ambulance to hospital.”

“What?!” Ann and Antoine got surprised together.

“Heart attack,” Peter turned back and went to his lofty log house. One week later, Antoine and Ann brought four containers with fertile soil and two-year-old peach seedlings. Three of them were planted by them on the south side of their summer cottage, right under its wide eaves.  The fourth one was placed on a small mound of soil in the garden of Ms. Polanski, not forgetting to add a first-class fertilizer and a pinch of compassion…