The Tales of Flesh and Blood

Moonflowers?

"Holy shit," I cursed, taking a quick step back as I peered down the dark abyss. I wasn't close enough to the edge to where I would have fallen off if I'd continued forward, but still. Not exactly something that I was expecting. Jaxon, waving around his flashlight, glanced at me with an amused expression. Shooting him a sour look, I cautiously inched forward until I could properly see beneath me - or at least, see as well as I could while in the dead of night.

It was as if someone took a spoon and decided to scoop out a giant chunk of earth, the edge was that smooth. I would not want to be the one to go rolling down that. I whistled.

"You like coming out here? In the dead of night?" I asked, shoving my hands back underneath my armpits. From the corner of my eye, I saw Jaxon look up towards the sky with a frown. I followed his gaze. I could see the clouds above us moving rapidly across the void above, and I clenched my jaw at the insane amount of wind that seemed to keep urging them to move.

"Damn windy tonight," I grumbled.

"Hold on," Jaxon said beneath his breath. "Just wait for those clouds to move. Then you'll see why I like it out here."

We waited for what felt like forever, freezing our asses off. Still, I had to admit that once I forced myself to think of something other than the cold, it was nice listening to the sounds of the woodland around us. Crickets were chirping, owls were hooting, and there was none of the constant shouting and screaming that I'd grown accustomed to in the apartments. Looking around, I wondered what this place was like during the day. I could see the dark rippling of water in the middle of the hollow below us. It almost reminded me of the park Jaxon and I went to meet up for-

I cleared my throat to rid myself of that thought, telling myself that the heat that flushed at my cheeks was from the cold and nothing more.

"Ah, there we go!" Jaxon exclaimed, grabbing my arm and pointing hurriedly down the hollow with all the eagerness of a five-year-old boy who was told he could go watch the drag-races at the local racetrack.

I jerked myself from my thoughts and looked to where he was pointing - and felt my eyes widen a little in shock. The moon was shining its pale light down in the hollow, and from our angle, I could make out a series of rocky faces sticking out from the water below. And on top of those rocky areas were some of the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen . . . and they were glowing. All sorts of different shades of blue, shimmering underneath the moonlight while the dark water beneath the rocks gently splashed against them.

"Whoa . . ." I started, then found myself leaning forward. "How . . . how are they . . . em," I paused, trying to gather my thoughts. "How is that possible? So many flowers. What happens when the water floods?"

Next to me, Jaxon lowered himself so that he could sit on the grass, and I followed suit with the flashlight between us.

"I don't know," he admitted. "That's just the thing. I don't think the water ever rises high enough to cover the rocks, and the rain never seems to wash away the soil on top of them. I think they're moonflowers, but they survive throughout the winter and their color varies based on the temperature."

I gave him an incredulous look, but I couldn't keep my focus away from the flowers for long.

"You're playing me," I insisted. Jaxon laughed softly.

"I've never seen these flowers anywhere else," he admitted.

"How did you find this?" Because as much as I was certainly enjoying the view, a part of me wondered what made Jaxon come all the way out here to begin with. Suddenly, I felt the mood drop considerably. When Jaxon didn't answer, I looked over to see him frowning, a somber expression filtering his face. Was I not supposed to ask that?