They were in a big clearing.
Several bags of mulch were messily spread around it, mostly brushed away around a circle of large tree stumps. On the tallest one, spiky writing spelled out,
Dream big .
Tied to most of the overhead branches were long wires, and attached to them were colorful bottles filled with rainwater. They caught the sunlight in just the right way, scattering circles of bright, rainbowy light spots around the clearing. The trees that stood bordering the space were all gnarly and tall. Sparrow was speechless. "It's beautiful," she whispered excitedly. "But why are you showing me this?"
Dream smiled. "I was just thinking, if we ever have to leave each other....."
"Yeah?"
".....you could live......here? I mean, only if you want to. I uh, I just thought, because there are some nice perches, and you can, I dunno, drink the water from the bottles...... And I'd visit you everyday, of course."
Sparrow laughed, and Dream blushed in embarrassment. "Oh...um, if you don't like it, I can find somewhere else....."
"No! I love it more than anything... I just think it's so funny that you're giving me this, and we just met like, an hour ago."
Now Dream laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right!"
Sparrow flew from his shoulder. "Sparrow," yelled Dream. "Where-where are you going?"
"I'm just testing out a couple twigs!" But Dream was already getting dreary, and Sparrow was beginning to slow down in the air. Dream collapsed and began panting severely.
"Sp- Sparr-row..." He managed to squeeze out breathlessly. He heard a small thump near his ear. Something tickled him, and just as his face started to go numb, it slowly receded.
He looked to his side. It seemed that Sparrow had landed close enough to him that several of her feathers had brushed his ear, and they had awoken. Sparrow looked up at him.
"That was lucky." She said worriedly.
Dream gulped. "How did you get back in time?"
"When I saw you were falling, I started to fly back. But then I started to get tired too, and I started to sleep. Luckily though, I fell asleep right next to you, so we were touching."
"Yeah-"
"FOUND YOU! BOY, I AM CALLING YOUR FATHER."
It was the Park ranger.
YOU ARE READING
The Summer of Sparrow and Dream
RandomA disease is sweeping the peaceful town Drolr, causing its victims to sleep for weeks on end, eventually dying of starvation. There is no cure. Dream, a thirteen year old boy, has caught it. He knows his life will come to an end sooner or later, bu...
