The Runaway

Chapter 58

Alas, the rain has finally given us peace. Now here we sit, under a ginormous tree. I'm sitting against the tree trunk. He is sitting in front of me, between my legs, his back to my chest and I've been playing with his hair. I love his hair. What I don't love is walking. It has broken me. Now I shall sit here forever and let the grass wrap around me, solidifying me into the ground.

"Walking is evil."

He nods.

I make his hair stand straight up before flattening it again. This is fun, messing with his hair. "We should stay here forever."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I need unicorns." He pokes my knee. "You need to see your family."

"I miss them."

"That's why we can't stay here forever."

"Oh... How long do we stay here then?"

He shrugs. "Till you're ready to walk some more."

"Are there any more cities to pass?"

"A small one, I think."

I lay against the tree and my arms fall. Even they can't stay up anymore. This is miserable. Why must I be miserable on a beautiful day?

I want to lay in shade till the end of time, till my fingers can bend and till my knees don't crack. Let the shade get rid of the sun's damage, let the shade get rid of sweat. Let me stay here, in this calm till it ceases to exist, till there are no days, weeks or years left, till the dread sets in and till all goes wrong.

Let the ants sleep in my cracked hands, let my hair stay with the bark it rests on. Let the soft dirt consume me, let the leaves fall on me as seasons change. Let the birds use me as a place to rest and let flowers grow from within me.

His voice interrupts my goofy thoughts. "How the fuck do you make flower crowns? Why did you even tell me to make one?"

His frustration makes me smile. It is so easy. "Because they are pretty, and I made one, so you need to make one." I lean far to the side, ignoring the pain it causes me and pluck a few daisies. "It's easy. You wrap this part around this part of the next flower, grab another and weave them through and continue the process till you have a flower snake."

He stares at the flowers in my thin hands, stupefied. "What?"

I lay down, obeying the request from the aches in my joints. This is a funny angle. He seems so tall next to me as part of my vision is covered by a bunch of grass. I'm not laying that comfortably, but it beats being hunched sideways. I grab some more flowers and show him the process many more times till he gets it.

"This is too complicated for some flowers."

"No, it's not. Look. This one hugs that one, and the third one joins the hug. Then the fourth hugs all of them and connects them with the fifth. This keeps going on and on. The fifth hugs the sixth, then the seventh hugs both and the eighth rounds them up like the fourth did."

"Why do they all need to hug?"

"To stay together. Stay strong."

"Like us?"

Well, that takes me by surprise, but I think about it. I guess we really are just flowers, but unlike the ones in my hands, there are only the two of us. We're the only ones supporting each other right now.

"Yeah."

He lays down in front of me, mocking my pose till I adjust myself now that he isn't in the way. He grabs my hand and places it between us, his wrapped around mine. The wind messes with the shadows on his hair.

"What is your kingdom like?"

"I told you."

"How does everyone act?"

"They're all nice."

He raises an eyebrow. "Anything else? Do you guys hug every greeting? Is their singing? Dancing? What is the food? What activities are there? Is there an order of who is in charge? Is there ever sorrow?"

Oh, so many questions. Does he not know my brain is disintegrating from all the walking we have done? "...We don't hug all the time. When I say good night or good morning to my parents I do. We wave as a greeting. The plants sing. It's so cool and the actors dance during plays. There is honey, lots of honey. I wonder why. And strawberry sandwiches. I'm sure it's the same as your kingdom. There's sorrow when someone or an animal dies. My parents rule things and then the guards and assistants and workers. I actually don't know how that works. You can do any activity you can think of that includes open land and tons upon tons of plants. You are really going to love it there."

"I want to."

"You will. And the animals, oh you will love them. And the unicorns, of course."

"I don't know if I want to see unicorns..." He shies away as if he did something wrong.

I poke his nose, and he leans farther back. "Why not? You were so excited to see them."

"Mother always wanted to see them. She isn't here to see them. I don't want to see them without her. Why should I go live her dream life? She didn't experience most of the things I am right now. I can't do things she hasn't and always wanted to. It isn't fair..." He avoids looking at me, just stares at our hands in the grass.

My heart hurts for him. "No... live for her, you sweet boy. Show her all the things she's missed out on. She sounds like a wonderful woman, and I am positive she wants you to be happy. She is still with you. She has experienced things you haven't, and you are experiencing things she hasn't. Everyone's life is different and none of this is your fault. So, stop being sad and get excited to meet Peppermint, Strawberry, Kitty, Icy. Oh! And there is a baby! Oh my, you're going to love him!" I get up, way too fast and my head hurts for a minute. "We have to go to the baby. His name is Eclipse. He is so cute."

He sits up, slowly. "You are so confusing."

I grab his hand. "Come on, we need to see unicorns."

He pulls his hand away. "I don't want to venture yet."

"Oh." I sit back down.

He goes back to making the flower crown.

A/N: Hello all!