Year- 2027
In the city of Abinora.
Rachael sat under the apple tree. Her mother had recently passed away and that was their favourite spot. She sobbed as she flattened the grass beside her with her bare palms.
She missed her so much.
A ball rolled towards her and she looked at it. A beautiful black dog came to retrieve it. It was so adorable that Rachael smiled.
"Cute, isn't he?",asked a man from behind her. She looked and saw a handsome guy looking at the dog with love in his eyes.
"Yes...I- I love dogs actually. They are the most adorable creatures on the planet",said Rachel truthfully.
"This dog's name is Tony and he loves a good pony",said the man.
Rachael laughed and started to pet Tony
She herself had a dog when she was six.
Now she was 28. The dog had, ofcourse, passed away.
That was the moment, Rachael and Tobias first met. And they kept meeting from then. Something between them just felt right.
The fortunate Apple tree even got to see Tobias propose to Rachael a few years later under that very tree. They got married.
Everything was so good. It was like a fairytale.
They were eating dinner with Rachael's father when Tobias mentioned it.
"I am....uh....I was wondering if this is the right time to say this",said Tobias putting his fork down.
Rachael, her father and her two brothers listened intently.
"I bought a house. It is not very big but I am sure that your daughter will be very happy in it! And it's not far from here also!",blurted out Tobias, with fear that his father-in-law might decline.
He smiled and said,"Oh yes, I was going to talk to you about it myself"
Tobias was so happy that he got up and hugged his father-in-law while everyone gleefully smiled and laughed.
A few weeks later was an important day. It was the day for Rachael to finally move in their new small, but snuggly house.
"I don't care if this is small",said Rachael to Tobias once. "Its ours"
They were so happy. And not once, did it occur to Rachael that no one can be happy forever.
They would frequently visit the lucky apple tree.
"This is where it all started", said Rachael, to Tobias, sitting under the apple tree.
"Yes and all these years we never thought about eating one of those apples!",joked Tobias that made Rachael smile.
"We could try it out though",said Rachael.
"Now? Let me pluck that apple,it looks ripe",said Tobias using his height as an advantage and plucking a ripe apple.
He was going to take a bite from it when Rachael stopped him.
"What do you think?",she asked
"What?"
"Do you think it will be sweet like me or sour like you?",asked Rachael
"Woman! I am most definitely not sour! I am the sweetest guy alive!"
"Oh yeah? I think this apple is sour!",said Rachael
"And I think it is sweet!",said Tobias, mimicking Rachael and crossing both his arms.
"Fine! Then, tomorrow we eat this apple and, if it turns out to be sweet then I give you 100 dollars and if it is sour then you give me 100 dollars",said Rachael smiling confidently.
Tobias looked uncertain as he said,"Can't we do this now? Why tomorrow?"
"Because if it is tomorrow then we will have something to be excited about! Don't spoil it! Now let's go home, it's getting dark!"
"As you wish, my lady"
And they headed back home.
The next morning, they woke up, followed their routine and in the afternoon, Tobias asked,"Can we taste the apple now?"
"No!", answered Rachael. "I made a little something for lunch, we will have it and then, we will taste the apple"
"Okay okay",said Tobias closing his eyes and leaning back on his chair.
Lunch came and they ate it. Rachael ate it slowly but Tobias finished his lunch too quickly.
"Now can we taste the apple please?",asked Tobias.
Rachael laughed and said,"Okay wait let me get the knife"
She went to the kitchen to get the knife while Tobias played with the apple.
"Yes, get the knife and get the hundred dollars too! Because this apple is going to be sweet as-"
And the building shook, the roof collapsed on Tobias.
Rachael came out screaming from the kitchen. She moved as much rubble as she could and she found her husband. He was alive but shaken. Luckily, he had time to take cover under the table.
It was an earthquake.
"Get me out", whispered Tobias
"Yes yes wait",said Rachael and she tried to move the big pieces of rubbles to help her husband out
"Tobias, it's too heavy, I can't move it!. Let me call for help. You try to get out!",said Rachael
Tobias tried to move but his face scrunched up in pain. His body was covered in rubble except for his face and arms.
"Rachael",he cried out
"What?"
"I- I think my leg is broken",he shouted.
"W- what? Try to move them!",said Rachael , trying to remain calm
Tobias was the toughest man Rachael new but he was trembling. His arms were bruised
"I hope you save some energy because I think my legs are broken, you will have to carry me out.",he whispered, his hands shaking.
With all the strength she could muster, Rachael moved the biggest piece of rubble from his hip and said,"Don't worry, I am going to call for help, first let me get you out of here, this was-"
She stopped mid-sentence. Her eyes wandered at his hips. A giant piece of rebar, probably from the fallen roof, had embedded itself inside of Tobias.
"What is it Rachael? Is my leg broken bad?",asked Tobias. "I-I can't feel them"
Tobias was shaking and trembling and so was Rachael.
"Why can't I feel my legs Rachael? Is something- is something wrong? Please, help me get up",he pleaded.
Rachael didn't have the heart to tell him what had happened. Tobias' face was paper white and he was sweating. So, Rachael immediately ran towards her phone to call for an ambulance and that's when it shook for the second time and this time, Rachael went down too and she did not survive.
Their bodies were recovered and Rachael's father cried a lot and made the decision of burying them that Rachael would have wanted him to make.
And once again, Rachael and Tobias lay together under the apple tree, just this time, they were four feet under.
From the rubble, they recovered the bodies of two lovers who were madly in love with each other and the apple lay there, with dust sitting on it, and no one cared if it was sweet or sour.
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