forest

Berries and Flowers

By MechanicalPencil13

***

Let's go get something to eat while we still can 

Caroline suggests

We all stand

Shaking off any last tendrils of sleep

And plunge, silently as always

into the forest

***

The sun burns overhead

Through a choking gray gaggle of storm clouds

And still

A sharp-clawed monster

Tears at my stomach

We scour every inch of the forest

For redberries

But they've all vanished into the haze

No chance of honeysuckle

It's not in bloom

Plants cover the ground

And ferns twitch with every breath of wind

But every leaf seems to be poison ivy

Emmi! Caroline! Leah! 

Alex's voice pierces through the desperately

Annoyed and hungry atmosphere of the group

Our heads snap towards him

He's crouched in the dirt

Next to a single flower

With a long green stem

And no leaves

Three purple-yellow petals extending out

Another petal and three stamen

Explode from the center

It is unfamiliar

But there is Alex, delicately picking a bloom 

Pinching the stamen between mud-stained fingers

Drawing it through the petals

Placing a single drop of liquid from the end of the stamen

On his tongue

Like you would a honeysuckle flower

Before any of us can say anything

Delicious

He murmurs

Fubling around for another flower

But there is none

Caroline, Emmi and I look at each other

And our nerves

Fray

But I say nothing

and Caroline says

Let's keep looking for more, okay?

And the four of us resume our search

***

We finally find a bush of redberries

Caroline, Emmi and I strip it of the

Tiny scarlet shapes

And split them into four piles, as always

And devour ours

But Alex is pale

I'm not hungry

He mutters

Caroline, Emmi and I glance at each other again

Shrug

And split his berries

Between the three of us