32The Growing Vine
2
The humans treated me like I was one of them, but they knew instantly that I was different. I Refused to eat the dead plants they called 'vegetable' that they placed in front of me; how could I eat family? That is like putting a human child in front of one of them, saying to eat it.
I ate nothing in their presence. I didn't want to upset the forest by disobeying orders, but I was starving. So I sat on a patch of Earth I had found, and dug my fingers deep into the rich black soil. It smelled of home, and yet not of home. I felt my roots digging deeper and deeper, searching for the nutrients I needed desperately. The sky blessed me, and gentle rain fell from above. I sat watching the sky, my hair clinging to my back.
Vines spread out around me, collecting the water I would need later. Flowers bloomed in my hair as I smiled to the sky. I missed my home dearly, at night as I fell into my sleep-trance, I dreamed off my Birth Tree. The Tree that had given me my life in return for its own.
The Twins were walking through the forest, doing mysterious things I would never understand. They saw the tree heavy with peach-like fruit, its life being given to a single fruit which was growing in front of their eyes.
Looking at it, they sat and waited, knowing what was inside it. The fruit began to swell, cracks appeared along its side, soft breathing could be heard. The fruit fell to the Earth, cushioned by the moss and ferns under it. The top showed signs of strain and a break point formed. It snapped open, revealing a small child with white hair like the clouds.
Her eyes were closed, like she was dreaming of the Planet far away. She made no sound, no movement, only the soft even breaths she let out.
They picked her up, smiling, they knew who she would be to the forest; she would stop the onslaught of the humans who wore the red of fire, to help the humans who took on tree power.
I have no memory of that first day, just what they have told me. I missed my home, the smell of the trees, their slow even voices when they told me of the past. I missed the Druids, and their stoic faces who played when I asked.
That was home, not this foreign place that smelled of humans and metal.
I wanted to curl up into my peach hull and dream of the treetops, dream of the distant planet that was familiar but foreign to me.
"Rima, come on!" The young girl had warmed up to me, even in my weirdness about the food. "We gotta go get groceries!" She called as she waved.
I sighed, leaving behind the lovely patch of ground I had been seated on.
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The town was amazing, so may rules to follow to make everything okay.
Never make eye contact with the men who looked at you, do not ask rude questions, never ever complain about something. Many more, but I can not remember them at the moment.
We grabbed many thing I did not recognize, so many foods, so many people, so little plants; I was crazed by the time we left.
"I'll be right back, do not, I repeat, do not follow me." I stepped away from the house, I was following my instincts; they always led me in the right direction. I found myself at a building that had fallen over many years ago. A tree was rooted inside the top on a rock. The tree called to me quietly.
I leapt from bar to bar, making my way to the tree that called to me.
I stepped onto the land, and the Voices overwhelmed me. They all clamored to get the tree's attention, hoping to get an answer. I wanted an answer too; when would I be able to return. I had learned all the rules I needed.
"I have come." The voices quieted down, all paying attention to me.
"I have slept for a very long time child. I know you, but do you know me?" A soft voice asked me gently.
"I may, but not in this life."
"Correct answer young tree, I know of Agito. That man you saw earlier, whom you saw change, is my son. I lived long enough as a man for him, now as a tree I shall last even longer. You, young tree, are my replacement. When I became a tree, the world was unsettled, you were born to even the balance.
"The same tree you were born from was a human once, a human who looked like you; only a bit older. That human risked her life for the forest. She was a brave woman, a woman I loved. She sacrificed herself for the humans. You are her image, born as a what you are now.
"You want answers, but I have none for you. Her spirit resides in you, you hear it. It speaks to you, the Past gave you this gift, this gift to find what you were sent to do.
"You made a deal, to not go home until it was finished. Hold that deal, learn everything while you can. The forest will be here forever, it shall never leave one of it's own. Go now, I grow tired."
The voice grew quiet, the others had left us alone. I had no idea what he spoke of, none of it made sense. How can a tree be a human?
The forest consumes humans, and the forest gives birth to humans. The wind whipped past my ear, carrying this to me. The twins would know, but they were in the forest. I could not to go there, I had to make them come to me.
Pleasure to write for all those nonexistent readers, or readers who refuse to tell me what you are thinking! Come on, seriously? Review damnit!
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