Slim: Book 6

Lost

I don't know if I had a memory of the forest in the first place strong enough to not be forgotten. But, walking among all the scarlet, orange, yellow, and shifty green made my head fill with rainbows. I remembered my elementary school calendar depicting Spring as the rainbow season. For the first time, I thought our cultural impressions to be mislead.

The hike was leisurely enough that I could invest my attention to my surroundings rather than to not tripping or panting up a storm...or sweating through the hand Naru held.

"How did I miss all this during the day?" I asked. "It isn't like the city has no trees or anything."

"Religions around the world regard mountains to have, not just physically cleaner air, but spiritually as well. Taoist and Buddhist monks build their monasteries on mountains, usually, and in the Bible there are several passages referring to 'the mountain of the Lord' as God's temple."

"...So spiritually clean air can help you see colors better?"

"I suppose it depends on how you're seeing everything right now." He looked about him idly, more serene than I had ever seen him. "Are you just seeing with your physical eyes right now, you think?"

I snatched at yet another especially bright leaf, like a child catching at something shiny. "How do you even know if you're looking at things spiritually?"

"You're closer to being a spiritualist than I am. Make a guess."

I fingered the scarlet leaf, smiling as I realized that, even though it had caught my eye, it really wasn't brighter than those around it. That didn't make the fire red any less beautiful. I considered it for my journal, then let fall to the ground. I couldn't be so greedy as to try and page-press the entire forest. But though each leaf was gorgeous, I had yet to settle with the one that would capture this memory—as best as a leaf could catch a memory.

"I guess my spiritual eyes would be whatever is recognizing the beauty right now." I scanned the canopy above me, envisioning the conversation that might ensue if I asked Naru to climb up and get me an especially pretty one. Suddenly, the idea of seeing Naru all manly and tall pulling down a leaf appealed to me.

"The beauty?" he asked.

"Well, um...from a scientific view, we're descended from, like, monkeys and stuff, right? Survival of the fittest and all that. So what does being able to see beauty do to help us survive in the jungle? If anything seeing all this would make me get eaten by the tiger all the more sooner, you know?"

His eyebrows went high. "That was very...astute of you. You may not be as dumb as you look."

"Hey! I have the keys to the dog house now, you know. Watch your step, hubby!"

He gave yet another loud laugh. "Hubby? Please no!"

"Oh my gosh, what's with you and names? First the Naru and Oliver thing last night—"

"It's endearments, Mai. You don't see anyone going around calling each other sardines, right? A certain level of taste is involved."

I grinned. Sardine? Now there was an idea. He caught on immediately to what I was thinking and laughed once more. It was in that perfect picture, Naru tipping his head back in mirth, dressed in a light blue sweater rather than the dreary black, that I saw the leaf I wanted, framed by a lock of his hair and lashes. I trotted about him and reached up, just to find it out of my reach. Without needing to be asked, he reached over me to pluck it down. Two dreams accomplished at once!

It was a beautiful, five fingered oak leaf, marbled with red, orange, gold, and green. Even the stem was a cinnamon brown, and it almost matched the size of my hand.