Another Story for Another Time

Chapter Three

"Naomi!" I look up to the sound of my brother's voice, and sure enough, there was Aatami, running across the field of wheat towards me. When he did finally reach me, he slouched forward, resting his hands on his knees as he took deep breaths, slowing his heartrate. I stare at him with no expression, after what I had just heard. When he finally looks up at me, I can tell that he notices there is something off. "Naomi, what is it?" he asked, and I can only sense his growing curiosity through the tension in the air.

"I, uh, I heard something... in the tree..." I felt dizzy, like I was ready to collapse, or faint. My knees grew wobbly as I tried my hardest to steady my own racing heart, which sped for a different reason than my brother's had. I see his mouth move in the shape of words, but my blood is pounding so loudly inside my ears, that it is all I can do to read his mouth. I am almost positive that he asked what I heard, but I could be wrong, so fingers crossed that my next sentence will make sense. "I heard a heartbeat, inside the tree."

I prepare myself for what will come next, but not a hundred years could prepare me for what was about to happen. After my brother heard my words, his lips parted as if about to argue, but soon he closed his mouth once more and took a step closer to the same limb of the tree I had been hugging. He put his hand on the edge of it, and pressed his ear against the surprisingly smooth bark. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, and then snapped them open, widely.

I am shocked, for a second. Not even a second, but nevertheless I felt that feeling. Aatami stared at me, his eyes growing bloodshot with every millisecond and I grew worried. More worried then I have ever felt before. More worried then when my dad was dying. More worried than my father's birthday after his death. No, I was never this worried. Never before.

"Aatami!" I scream, but he has no response. His head tilts back slightly, and I look to his fingertips which were the only parts of his body that came in contact with the tree. I grab his wrist and force him away from the branch. His whole body tumbles onto my own, and I roll over, letting him lie down in the wheat. "Aatami.... Please wake up..." I begin to cry.

I cry often, I really do, but this was a moment I never expected. It was always me who would die first, Aatami cannot die yet, I won't allow it. Luckily, my plea was met with mercy and Aatami's eyes moved underneath his closed eyelids. His eyelashes fluttered open and looked at me in confusion. I let out a deep breath of relief and I hold him close. "I thought you were dead, Ati..."

Aatami was a taken back, but he hugged me back, and rested his chin on my shoulder. "It's alright, Nay, I'm alright. Let's just never tell Mom about this, okay?" His laugh made me feel happy, and I truly believed that he was fine. I laugh as well as I pull away from him. I nodded in response to his request and wipe away any stray tears.

"Just promise you won't almost die again, okay?" I ask, and he's already agreeing with another fit of laughter. I smile, and I can feel the color coming back to my cheeks. We both stood up and looked at the tree, us standing a little farther than before. "Is it in the book?" I ask him, without looking directly at him.

"Let me see..." I hear him say and then I hear Aatami taking the book out and fumbling through the pages before stopping and taking a deep breath, about to say something. "'I saw a tree, a live oak, if I'm being technical. As I stepped closer to further my research on this particular spot of the island, I heard a humming, and a thumping, almost like a human heart beat. Then I felt a...'"

He left me on a cliffhanger and I turned my head to stare straight at him. "What is it, Aatami? What did he feel?" Aatami looked up at me with a worried expression, I return the look before he turned the book around so I could see the pages and not the cover. What my brother had read, it was the last few sentences of the book. The rest of the passage looked as if it had been ripped out by somebody in a hurry.

"It doesn't say, Naomi. It's probably nothing." He encouraged, with a chuckle. I felt like I was being lied to, but I trusted my brother, so instead of pushing him, I took the camera around my neck and snapped a photo of the tree. I look to him, and he nodded, so we both walked across the field of wheat once more. I don't think I really wanted to believe him, but Aatami seemed more persistent than usual, so I just ignored it. I'll push him later.

I glance down to my fingers which were folded into each other. Reluctantly, I release them, and let my arms swing limp beside my body. I am then aware of how much tension I held in my shoulder, so I exhaled deeply and relaxed my upper back. "You know what's interesting?" I suddenly speak up as we reach the trees.

Aatami looks to me in confusion, I feel like he may be traumatized, but he should be fine... "What's interesting?" He asked, and by his expression, I could easily tell that my brother was not precisely in the right mood for a conversation to go this way.

"Well, I'm the reason we came here, but despite my death sentence, the island had to choose you over me. I feel like its pet or something." I say with a laugh. I did find it funny in the oddest way, but Aatami did not. If anything, my statement seemed to sadden him more. "Hey, it's okay. Ati, we're going to be fine. What's so wrong?"

He doesn't say anything, but I can tell he's thinking, and before I know it he responds. "I'm just wondering." And that is all he told me. I decide not to push him any farther, even though deep inside, I'm screaming to ask him questions.

As we arrive back home, Mom came out to meet us at the doorstep. I hugged her, because all of us seemed to realize that the island has been a bit off. Aatami watched us, and once we separated, he pushed his way past us and stomped up the staircase. My mother inhales a sharp breath and looks after him. She asks me if something was wrong, but what could I say? After a bit of thought, I decided on what I should say.

"Let's just say... If we were characters in a movie, I'd stop watching 'cause this would be too eventful for a beginning."