No one knew what she looked like. No one had ever heard her laugh. All they knew was that she was 16 years old and under her veil she was hideous. It was her voice that made her special. Her voice was so beautiful that she could make anyone smile or cry. The sad part was that she never smiled or talked to anyone. No matter how much her voice made people happy, she never smiled. No matter how many people spoke to her, she never talked. Her mother tried everything to make her smile or talk but she wouldn’t do anything.

Early in the morning she would wake up and run to the willow tree on the hill. She would sing anything in her head. Whether it was sad or joyful. Everything around her was affected by what she sang. One day while she was in her tree she saw a boy. He had dark brown hair and big green eyes. He was tan and tall. He heard her singing so he came over. “Hi,” said the boy. “I am Thomas Picker. What is your name?” he asked in a calm voice. All she did was look at him. So he started to walk away.

She said, “My name is…” He looked at her. It was like she had never talked in her life. Again she said, “My name is Autumn Hale.” He laughed. Not knowing what he meant when he laughed, she got out of the tree and left.

He chased after her and asked, “Why did you leave?” she didn’t answer. She started to sing. Then he said, “You have the most beautiful voice I have ever heard.” After he said that she started to run. She ran and ran until she got to her front porch. She looked back and Thomas was gone. So she went to her room. That night she heard a tap on her window. As she walked to the window she saw Thomas. She opened the window.

He said, “Hey Autumn. Want to have some fun?” Autumn put on some working clothes and went to the front door. He said, “Come on. I want to show you something and don’t open your eyes.” He went behind her and covers her eyes. He said, “Now you can open them.” She looked at the tree with big eyes. He put lights all around it. “Now you can come here at night,” he said.

For the first time in 16 years she smiled. Then she said, “Thank you.” And she gave him a hug. All night they stayed in the tree.

The next morning Autumn left to go home, but she didn’t want to disturb Thomas so she left him. As she walked into her house she felt something on her shoulder, so she turned around and Thomas was standing in front of her. At that point she knew she was in love him.

All through the seasons they did everything together. Whether it was baking cookies or building a tree house. Thomas was Autumn’s only friend. He saw her for the beauty in her heart. He thought that she was beautiful. One day he proved that to her. He proposed.

He said, “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You are my true love and I am here for you and I will be here until the day we both die. I will never let you go. I don’t care what anyone thinks, to me you are beautiful. I see you for who you really are. You fill my whole heart with your laughter and I will do anything to make sure you stay laughing, even if I have to die for you. If you choose not to be with me, I wish you to be happy for the rest of your life, and I want to let you know that my feelings toward you will never change for as long as I live.” Then Autumn started to cry, and she fell to her knees. Thomas came to comfort her.

She looked at him and nodded. He picked her up and swung her in circles. Once, and for always, her laughter filled his heart. On February 14th Autumn Hale became Mrs. Autumn Picker and on August 8th they had their first daughter Willow Picker.