A shadow passes between two trees as you hear scurrying across the leaves. A wind blows through a curtain of swaying ivy. Flowers fall as a maiden kisses her lover's cheek, only to disappear in the light of dawn.
Have we really listened to the tree...
The night was quiet under the blanket of silent cloud seas. Moving as ships do when they steer through calm winds, they float pass the spotlight of the Moon, casting tranquil shadows on the blades of swaying grass.
An owl watched as the pixie took small steps into the clearing, resting on the luminescent pebbles that form a ring around an open wound in the Monstera leaf. In it has collected a well of rainwater; a pool of healing jelly for a nursery of veins emerging from jagged ends.
You're here. The same voice whispered in Anita's ears. Pointing to the sky, they twitched and directed her eyes to a shadow behind the nearest Clover tree to her right.
It inched towards her, illuminating slowly as it walked from the darkness. Furtive eyes slid out from its curtain of caramel hair. Freckles dotted his nose, becoming visible as he lifted his head with a slight tilt, eyes smouldering even more in the calmness of the moonlight. Under the spotlight, they sparkled, reflected glimmers of moonshine. At her.
Cullen sat down on the pebble next to hers. A space of three walnuts lay between them, mapping pinkie to pinkie; hers, and his. There, they remained for quite some time.
It must be hard for you.
The tenderness in his voice spread throughout her heart, prickling her chest. A slight breeze blew past their edges. It felt as if his breath was nuzzling her ears.
Anita looked down. So, the shadowed look in his eyes earlier...had he been worrying about her all along?
She touched her heart instinctually.
He didn't have to. Not when it was his moment in the festival. His success. She felt so proud for him, as did the rest, though deep down she knew he preferred...
An image of them carving leaf poems together on a willow nest floated into her mind. In it, her head lay on his shoulder as his hands moved up and down her arm. She blushed.
It's alright, I am used to it. Thank you for saving me today.
She looked down at her fidgeting fingers. Her voice sounded different in head-speak. It takes a while of getting used to. However did he do it so smoothly?
Do you see what I am seeing now? His deep voice reverberated in her heart as she breathed, syllables stringing into a lulling melody. It was music to her ears. So the image was from him...
Some buttercups stirred in her stomach, rising to her larynx. "Ah...", she sighed, voice cracking as they flew out in bubbly flutters.
Yes...
The one word took up much of her energy. A drowsiness swept through her forehead as she saw him hug her from behind in the willow leaves. A softness enveloped her entire back, melting into her entire being.
Look at me...
She turned to her right. Their eyes met each other in that moment of silent serenity. His hazel and her emerald. Together in a mirrored waltz.
How's your ankle?
It's getting better, your magic helped to numb the pain...I should be able to fly tomorrow as well...
His eyes looked down at the swollen abscess in her right foot.
All of a sudden, it began to pulsate, as though growing a Peony bud in its centre. As it throbbed, petals opened, coalescing into a flurry of warmth that caressed her foot, moving up, up, and up...slowly...to her shin...and then her knee...
Before she knew it, it had reached her thigh. Anita took deep breaths, each one rising and falling like a bow on a violin.
I'll make sure you get better.
A twinkle glinted from his eye as it caught the shine from her deepening gaze.
I know you will.
Smiling, Anita cast her head down slightly, feeling her eyes melt into his like emerald in caramelised maple.
His lips curled slowly. It was the most beautiful thing in the world. Her world.
She felt a shadow over her right hand. It descended and covered hers, sinking into her veins, merging into her palm, arm, shoulder, and heart.
There they sat, smiling silently.
No words needed to be said.
Little did they know, a pair of crimson eyes watched from behind layers of swaying grass.
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