Illiya - Taylor Neeran Chronicles #1

Chapter 21 - Memories

Tree

Taylor awoke with dirt in her mouth. She spat it out and pulled a piece of grass away from the mud on her cheek. She pushed herself up to a crouch and swung her head back and forth. The grove was empty except for the single tree in the centre. She stood up and cautiously approached the tree. It was just a tree. "I must have been dreaming."

"You were not," said a voice from the far side of the tree.

Taylor circled around the tree, her eyes wide. There they were - three slits, wide open. She faced the tree. "You've got eyes!"

"I've always had eyes."

"And a mouth! You talk!"

"And sing, but I'm a little rusty. It's been a long time since I heard... singing."

"You heard me."

"Yes, though I can't say I know that song. It was hard to follow along."

"Um, ah... it came out this year."

"Ah," said the tree. "That would explain it."

Taylor leaned in closer.

"That's a bit too close, my dear. You ever heard of personal space?"

"Uh, sorry," Taylor stepped back. "It's just... your eyes. They're blue."

"Glad you noticed."

"Um, what are you?"

"Human, my dear, like you. Well, I was. Used to be. My name's Heather. Heather Dixon, planetary science officer on the Excelsior. Who are you and why are you covered in mud? Is that the latest fashion for young ladies?"

Taylor laughed. "No, I'm avoiding bugs. My name's Taylor, Taylor Neeran. It's nice to... ah... meet you. What happened to you?"

"Turned into a tree. Ate the wrong thing I guess, like a fairy tale gone wrong. I woke up like this."

Taylor recalled Char's warning when he first gave her fruit. "Raagen?"

"I don't know what that is."

"Kind of like a pear, but yellow on top and green on the bottom? Round nut inside?"

"Yeah, I ate one of those. Nearly cracked a tooth on the nut. I was starving."

"I thought Char was just telling tales, I mean, eating a fruit and turning into a tree, it sounds so..."

"Crazy?" laughed the tree. "Yeah, but here I am."

"What happened?"

"We were chased, hunted for days by horrible beasts, Aarden the Illiya called them. We were starving after a few days, there wasn't that much that we could eat around here. The Illiya had shown us fruits we could eat, but it was hard to remember everything."

Taylor nodded. "I've got a notebook."

"Good idea. Anyway, we had all had tree fever, I guess they called it. But that didn't help much. We touched lots of trees but it takes time to grow fruit, you know?"

Taylor nodded. "That explains why I found so much edible fruit in this area. Thanks."

"Uh, you're welcome. But anyway we were starving and as soon as I saw a fruit that looked familiar, I ate it. I wasn't fussy, just really hungry. Big mistake."

"Who was with you? Are they trees too?"

"Not that I know of. Anyway, Craig and Karl and I were out in the field, just coming back to the village when those... things... those Aarden attacked the village."