chapter fortyfive 

 amber's battle

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It didn't take long before everything came crashing down on her. Amber knew this very well. In fact, it only took sixty seconds. Presicely a minute.

When you take a test and make a guess on a question you didn't know the answer to, and end up with a failing grade. When you spat out words towards your best friend.

Amber knew it wasn't that simple. But in a minute, someone can ruin everything for everybody. She remembered that minute.

It was in the autumn, when the leaves fell to the ground, just like her life soon will. She was trying to surpass her record of the height she climbed on the willow tree in front of the orphange. It has been a week since she started but to no avail could she get past the fifth branch. It required an awkward twist of her ankle to latch onto that one branch but she could never get past it.

She decided that that day was the day she was going to finish the journey up the willow tree, no matter what. She jotted down the twists and curves of the tree in detail in her little sketchpad. She had spent a couple hours the day before planning out how she was going to avoid falling from the tree, how all her other attempts had ended. Amber stood in front of the tower made of bark in front of her and examined it.

"Bigger up close..." She whispered to herself before mustering up her courage to run up to the tree and started climbing the trunks. If Amber was to ask someone today, no one would know where her courage and persistance came from, but she had it within her. Maybe she wanted to prove a point to not only her late parents, but herself.

She missed out on things. And the next day, she would regret it. She would tell herself over and over againt hat she should've taken the chance. Maybe it was because she didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to accomplish her goals. Life was way too short for her. If she had the chance too choose, it would be for her to live forever. 

But what was there to live for?

Exactly. She was finding a purpose to life. She needed to live. She needed something to live for. 

It wasn't the top of the willow tree she had in mind, but the journey on the way up. 

As she was climbing, her eyes squinted as the rays of the sun hit her. She was already up to the third branch and her mind was spinning, making her dizzy and she felt as though she was going to fall any time now. Her heart was pounding and she felt her chest was about to rip open. She was already at the fourth branch. 

Just gotta twist my ankle the correct way and-

It happened so quick; she didn't have time to comprehend her surroundings. Her head hit the ground and she groaned as she tried to blink away the pain. Her heart was still pounding, but suddenly, she felt her stomach fluttering. It was the strangest sensation mixed with her blood boiling under her skin. 

"What are you doing on the ground?" Amber looked up and saw a girl standing by, staring down at her.

God, she was so pretty, she made Amber's head pound harder and intensified her pain. She gulped and slowly stood up. The girl smiled at her and walked away, leaving Amber breathless. Never in a million years would Amber have fathomed the thought of falling from a tree would turn out to be falling for someone.

In that sixty seconds, she discovered her purpose in life. She found her reason for living. She found the sixth branch that paved way for her future. She didn't fall from the tree, she fell for Luna.

Amber, never again, attempted to pass the fifth branch.

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 author's note 

» hi guys! I'm sorry if this chapter is confusing; I'll explain. So Amber's climbing a willow tree in the past, which is parallel to her present situation. She could never get past the fifth branch, just like her attempt to get over Luna. When she fell from the tree, she realized that she loves Luna. In the end, she gave up trying to get up the willow tree, just like how she gave up on Luna.