Brady Tyson's Walk Along the Precipice

The Things That Humans Cannot Bear - 14

As was the first pillar we saw, this tree too stretches infinitely into the heavens. However it is not bare; above the clouds the branches begin to erupt from the trunk. Small at first, the jagged fractals poke out with the same queer geometry that they did in the maze. As the shapes run up the tree they push out further and further, conquering the cosmos. If it weren't for the atmosphere obscuring the things high above us, I think that I would see the tree's branches wrapping around the entire earth.

As above, so below.

The tree's roots run underfoot; massive, warped tendrils pulsating and weaving in and out of the sandy ground. The Earth has been washed in a stagnant, blue-gray color. My fingers brush the handle of the ax attached to my arm before falling to my side.

This one is too great.

Too cemented.

"Come on." Says Tarrance. He's staring at the ground.

"...Yeah."

We stand in place for a while longer.

I try putting a foot forward. It's too heavy to move. The tree stares into me.

"Why are you here, Tarrance?"

"Because it's where we were brought."

"Why are you here?"

"Because it's not home."

"If you don't like the place where you live, you shouldn't call it home. It's just a house. Just a building."

"Yeah, but I've never been anywhere else. I have nowhere else to go."

"There's always somewhere else you can go. Have you tried contacting child protective services? Not that I know what exactly it is that they do."

"...I just feel like it would end up even worse for me in the end. My parents are really good liars."

"Well... it will work out in the end. Come on, let's go." I turn my eyes to the tree again.

"Right." Tarrance walks out ahead of me, brushing a blonde mop of hair out of his eyes.

I try to follow him.

I can't.

"What the hell?!"

Tiny bumps on my skin rise up as a chill runs through my body. The roots of the tree have twisted around my legs. Gnarly hands sprout forth, clawing up my legs, dragging me down into the ground.

"Brady!" Tarrance starts to hustle back to me.

I detach my ax from my arm, raising it above my head. For a few seconds I sit there, aiming so that I won't hit myself with my weapon. Then I realize that I'm not aiming, I just can't bring my arm down.

"I can't fucking move! Tarrance, I can't fucking cut these things off!"

"I got you, just hold still!"

"What do you think I'm doing?!"

Tarrance awkwardly maneuvers his Khopesh into the flesh of the root, trying not to cut me in the process. He's awkward and unwieldy, and the sweat feels like it's pouring off of me in waves as I continue to struggle to take control of my body. Eventually though, he cuts enough off that I'm able to shake the rest from my legs, and the two of us scramble away, getting to the top of the nearest dune.

"What happened?" Tarrance asks. His terrified eyes betray his matter-of-fact tone.

"I... don't know."

It's like... I instinctually saw those roots as being a part of myself. More so than... my actual body. Is what I elect not to say.

"Let's just be more careful from now on. I'm lucky to have you around though, that's for sure." And I mean it.