It’s often asked can men and women just be friends and I have to say I don’t care much for that question. Of course men and women can just be friends and that goes for our two protagonists. Darren and Lucy.

When they were younger everyone would comment how they would grow up to marry each other. They found this idea ridiculous and distracted themselves by going off on adventures into the woodlands just outside their village. This is where they found the Wishing Tree.

A grand oak stood in the middle of a clearing gave shelter to the friends. It provided them with branches to play on, roots to sit on, and it cared for them.

They would tell it their thoughts, their worries and their concerns and most importantly their wishes. With each wish they made a squirrel would climb down from the tree and offer them an acorn. The friends would take this acorn and put it in their palm, the acorn would then disappear and the wish whatever it may be was granted.

The now eighteen year old friends were so sick of being told they’d make a great couple that they went to the grand old oak and wished people would stop giving them hassle about whether or not they should date each other.

A squirrel came down with an acorn and Lucy took it in her palm.

Nobody ever asked such a stupid question again or commented on their relationship. It was a small change, but it allowed them to breathe.