The sacred plum

 Must have been September. Helio and his mother were spending a week away from Father.
Bridge by bridge to Burles. Inland university quasi rural town.
They went through one of those fancy shopping corridors inside buildings that join two streets. Sat down at a cafe.
"Mom I hate quiche."
"Don't worry we can get something else on the menu."
  The sun peeped out behind grey cloud.
Then mrs Sinclair arrived. Her nickname from college was "lamb" because of her hair, and the cruel teens that coined it.
The conversation went on for an hour. Helio was bored and kicked the table with his foot every five minutes, distracting the conversation.

"Just stop Helio." Mother said
"Mom, when are we going?"
"It's rude to ask that, I am here with my dear friend Lamb."
"Ok sorry."
Then another kick, not violent but distracting enough for Helio to have the attention focused on him once more.

"Let me show you my house it's only five minutes from here, and let this one stretch his little legs." Lamb said.
"Ok, look now you can go out and play at  lamb's house. You got what you wanted." Mother rewarded.
Helio thought to himself, -this is not what I wanted, if I had what I wanted I'd be back home with my brother playing and kidding around. And what kind of a nickname is lamb for a grown woman. 

We arrived at her house with those length way wooden slat fences. The corner rotten and crumbling, damp in other patches from last night's rain.
The sun shone through the cloud and soft drizzle formed as Helio was led into the backyard and told to play. In the middle of the backyard there was a tree in blossom, still bare from the winter. The aroma was distinct.
Was he supposed to climb the tree? whenever he was expected to do something, he felt the uge to challenge it. Throwback from his father or mother, the tendency to be contrarian.

He put his hands on the lowest branch and felt the small mottled openings in the bark.
The power of the blossom aroma was almost overpowering.
Before he could reach for the next branch he heard his mother and Lamb.
"Yes Helio is the creative one, always doing something strange at home, drawing and playing different games." His mother boasted.
"Helio do you know what kind of tree that is?" Lamb asked.
"No, but it smells good."
"It's a plum tree and the smell is from the blossom, when it has many flowers, it probably means there's going to be a lot of fruit."
Helio naively asked "So does that mean when I smell I will do very good things?"
Mother and Lamb started giggling uncontrollably, then giving in to the humor they saw in Helio's literal percepetion,  started swinging their bodies like pendulums, in bouts of laughter.

Helio ignored them and imagined candy like fruit on every branch.
Was this proof of God? Whenever he was brought along to church all he could see was people pretending. Rehearsing old verse to cover some special code. Having everyone follow game-like rules, sing something that seemed very old.
But this!
This was it, no higher proof of spiritual power than metamorphosis in nature.
The tree spoke to Helio, not just through the smell.

The thing seemed to have a presence, this exotic flowering overgrown shrub.
His Mother and Lamb went back inside the house, and like a seance where the cup moved by itself the partial sun and drizzle created a rainbow that formed right infront of him.
If he had more life experience he would have declared it a miracle.

Later when he went back inside to play with some toy soldiers that lamb's absent son had left on the floor.
"Mom and lamb The plum tree made a rainbow!" He said matter of factly.
"Oh that's good" Mother said, the two women only briefly turning their heads to acknowledge Helio's latest creative idea.
"It felt like God did it." Helio insisted.
"That sounds like Blasphemy, God doesn't have time to entertain children." Lamb said suddenly insensed by the idea. Helio stopped himself grinning, noone had time to entertain children.
 
Helio went back into himself again, holding the toy soldier in his hand.  -Is that why people fight about beliefs? They want to own the truth, like I want to own my toys.

Instances such as these happened frequently to Helio. Although who would believe Him, if he told them he saw God tinkering. They'd just dismiss him.
Wouldn't you?