Getting Home

Part 35

Not a tree, exactly—but something growing out of ground.

It looked like a frozen swell of ocean, a pedestal raised up frozen mid-wave from the soft green ground—only about as tall as the Civic. The bulk of it was that silk green, but pulsating day-glo purple lines and veins ran up the base, where the green and purple melded and bloomed out, like the ground itself reaching up for the sky.

It was actually kind of pretty.

The sky above was noticeably darker as Henry and I got out of the car, the light dimming from beautiful pearlescent orange and transitioning to the very beginnings of a soft, dark-marble purple. A glint of light suddenly caught my eye—

There was a piece of metal was embedded in the tree pedestal.

"What is that?" Henry said.

It was flat and smooth, dull gray and completely enmeshed with the raised ground—like the tree-mound had grown around it. There was a slight curve to the piece of metal, like maybe it was meant to be... worn?

Armor? A garment?A tool?

"I have no idea," I said.

Henry squinted at it. "It's not from here. I don't know how I know, but... it definitely doesn't belong here."

There wasn't much we could do about it, so...

We got back in the Civic and kept going.

It wasn't long before we saw the glow on the horizon. A bright, purplish-bluish glow that rose from the end of the Path under a darkening sky, a lavender glow that completely filled the horizon side-to-side as far as the eye could see. More of those tree-like protrusions began to appear, clumped and clustered together, and getting bigger and taller.

The Path itself began to change color itself too as we continued along—the further we went, the more it turned from a swirling blue-and-violet to an incandescent light blue, streaked with light red and rose pink colors.

Henry was marveling out the window. "It's beautiful here."

"Can't argue with you there." I was focused on the steering wheel—even though it was wobbling a lot, I was beginning to notice I didn't have to correct it very much.

Almost like the Civic was helping keep us on the path.

The tree things got bigger and bigger, and more and more of them. They reached high towards the darkening sky, the purple veins from the "root" beginning to glow brightly in the dim light, the veins blooming out of the top of the trees, drooping and hanging back down to create a beautiful glowing purple and green glow that reflected like neon on our faces inside the car.

I fell asleep.

I caught my head falling forward, my brain lost for only a second or two at time in that hypnotic haze in-between being awaken and falling into sleep.

The Civic continued remaining straight and true on the path.

And the sky continued to get darker.

"Henry, I think maybe we should pull over and get some sleep," I said. "Aren't you sleepy?" I hadn't really thought about it, but I hadn't gotten any sleep since... two days ago? One?

It feels like it's been forever.

The big things on the side of the road were now everywhere, their purple glowing veins hanging down like willow trees covering an old, long road to an old plantation—