sconces in the shape of flowers that held candles. A carpet of grass and leaves above my head.
Okay, so maybe not so normal.
We passed a closed door on the right, and then one on the left, before making it to the opening that led to the kitchen. The kitchen was much like the rest of the tree house. Green and brown. Alec opened a drawer in the cabinet and pulled out a box of matches. He must have been here often to know exactly where to go for them. He struck one, and lit several of the candles around the room.
“We don’t have electricity here.” Makes sense to have candles everywhere- except that we stood in the center of a freaking wooden tree.
His square jaw was tight, his high cheekbones looked sharper, and his eyebrows drawn down into an almost-frown. His eyes focused, the happiness gone from them.
I walked up to the table and pulled out a chair, thankful for the chance to finally rest my feet. Though the chair was all wooden, it was comfortable, as if there was a thick cushion atop the wood. So weird. But so nice. My feet sang halleluiah.
As I sat, I watched him finish lighting the candles. Then he went to a door, opened it and pulled out some bags. He placed the bags in the center of the table, and then went to a different cabinet and pulled out a jug of something liquid. At another cabinet he pulled out some cups, and then came and sat at the table directly in front of me.
“Drink this,” he said, after pouring some of the blue liquid into a cup and handing it to me.
I looked at the strange cup. It was beautiful, of course, just like everything else here, but it was weird. It almost looked like a large drop of water. It must have been glass, but it wasn’t exactly see through. Still, the shape was unlike any cup I had seen before.
I pulled the gorgeous glass to my lips and drank greedily. I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was until I saw him pouring it out. The taste was sweet and tart at the same time, but not too much. Almost like lemonade, but without the lemon flavor. It was to die for.
To. Die. For…
I took the cup from my mouth and looked at him accusingly. My fingers went to cover my mouth as I realized what I just did. I drank in the fairy world. All the tales say you can’t do that or something bad would happen. You could die. Or be stuck here forever. Or fall under the control of another. Or… anything.
“Oh my gosh,” I breathed.
“What?” he asked, clearly confused and upset by my reaction. He tasted the liquid and shook his head and looked deeper into my eyes. “What happened? Are you okay? It tastes fine to me.”
“I drank it,” I said. My stomach grew furious with me, rumbling around and threatening to expel what I had just put in it. “How could you?”
“Aren’t you thirsty?” he asked, still confused.
“Yeah, but…I just drank a fairy drink in the fairy world. Doesn’t that mean something?”
He paused. Blinked once. Then the corners of his lips lifted up before he bellowed out a hearty laugh. The laugh continued. At first I was angry at him, not only for tricking me and probably poisoning me, but also for laughing at me.
Except he just kept laughing, and then, for a reason I could never explain, I laughed too. Maybe his laugh was too funny I had to laugh at it. Or maybe I was so exhausted I was delirious. We just laughed together until my eyes watered. I even kept laughing when my tears turned to sobs.
But when the tears began to flow even more freely, he stopped laughing, got up and left me alone to my grief. I pictured my parents. They were from this strange place. Had seen these woods before. They may have even lived in a tree like this. Probably not, since they were air fairies. Why did they never tell me? Why didn’t they explain that there was danger? Why didn’t they explain to me who I was, and where I was from? Maybe then I wouldn’t have felt so out of place. Maybe I would’ve understood.
Oh geez, who was I kidding? What was I even doing? Alec
Okay, so maybe not so normal.
We passed a closed door on the right, and then one on the left, before making it to the opening that led to the kitchen. The kitchen was much like the rest of the tree house. Green and brown. Alec opened a drawer in the cabinet and pulled out a box of matches. He must have been here often to know exactly where to go for them. He struck one, and lit several of the candles around the room.
“We don’t have electricity here.” Makes sense to have candles everywhere- except that we stood in the center of a freaking wooden tree.
His square jaw was tight, his high cheekbones looked sharper, and his eyebrows drawn down into an almost-frown. His eyes focused, the happiness gone from them.
I walked up to the table and pulled out a chair, thankful for the chance to finally rest my feet. Though the chair was all wooden, it was comfortable, as if there was a thick cushion atop the wood. So weird. But so nice. My feet sang halleluiah.
As I sat, I watched him finish lighting the candles. Then he went to a door, opened it and pulled out some bags. He placed the bags in the center of the table, and then went to a different cabinet and pulled out a jug of something liquid. At another cabinet he pulled out some cups, and then came and sat at the table directly in front of me.
“Drink this,” he said, after pouring some of the blue liquid into a cup and handing it to me.
I looked at the strange cup. It was beautiful, of course, just like everything else here, but it was weird. It almost looked like a large drop of water. It must have been glass, but it wasn’t exactly see through. Still, the shape was unlike any cup I had seen before.
I pulled the gorgeous glass to my lips and drank greedily. I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was until I saw him pouring it out. The taste was sweet and tart at the same time, but not too much. Almost like lemonade, but without the lemon flavor. It was to die for.
To. Die. For…
I took the cup from my mouth and looked at him accusingly. My fingers went to cover my mouth as I realized what I just did. I drank in the fairy world. All the tales say you can’t do that or something bad would happen. You could die. Or be stuck here forever. Or fall under the control of another. Or… anything.
“Oh my gosh,” I breathed.
“What?” he asked, clearly confused and upset by my reaction. He tasted the liquid and shook his head and looked deeper into my eyes. “What happened? Are you okay? It tastes fine to me.”
“I drank it,” I said. My stomach grew furious with me, rumbling around and threatening to expel what I had just put in it. “How could you?”
“Aren’t you thirsty?” he asked, still confused.
“Yeah, but…I just drank a fairy drink in the fairy world. Doesn’t that mean something?”
He paused. Blinked once. Then the corners of his lips lifted up before he bellowed out a hearty laugh. The laugh continued. At first I was angry at him, not only for tricking me and probably poisoning me, but also for laughing at me.
Except he just kept laughing, and then, for a reason I could never explain, I laughed too. Maybe his laugh was too funny I had to laugh at it. Or maybe I was so exhausted I was delirious. We just laughed together until my eyes watered. I even kept laughing when my tears turned to sobs.
But when the tears began to flow even more freely, he stopped laughing, got up and left me alone to my grief. I pictured my parents. They were from this strange place. Had seen these woods before. They may have even lived in a tree like this. Probably not, since they were air fairies. Why did they never tell me? Why didn’t they explain that there was danger? Why didn’t they explain to me who I was, and where I was from? Maybe then I wouldn’t have felt so out of place. Maybe I would’ve understood.
Oh geez, who was I kidding? What was I even doing? Alec
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