“Feeling better? Yes. Fully healed? No. You’re staying put.”
I let out a deep resigned sigh, making Taylor laugh.
“Look, someone’s got to take care of you, and it’s obviously not going to be you,” she quipped.
“I can take care of myself,” I pouted.
This made her laugh again. I loved the sound of it. Her laugh was a loud burst of joy, strong and forceful, just like her.
The cave fell silent once again until all that we could hear was the crackle of the fire and the crash of the waves outside.
“I’m going to miss this.” Taylor surprised me with her comment.
“You are?”
“Yeah, the mountain is nice, and I like being around everybody, but it’s nice to get away sometimes too, you know?
You guys can get away as often as you’d like. You’re literally built to survive on this planet. Us humans, not so much. The best we can do is hang out in the clearing, and that isn’t exactly private.”
“I can take you on as many trips as you’d like after we get back,” I assured her.
“There’s a set of caves that overlook a river not too far from the mountain. I think you’d like the view.”
“That sounds nice.” Taylor turned to face me. “Thank you, Brexl, for everything.”
My voice caught in my throat. What had I done that was so special? It was no great effort to keep Taylor safe or to stay by her side.
“You don’t need to thank me,” I replied in a whisper, not trusting my voice.
“Well, I’m thankful all the same.”
Her response brought a smile to my face. She was so wonderfully stubborn.
“Goodnight, Taylor.”
“Goodnight, Brexl.”
And with that we drifted off to sleep.
Mother?!
Brexl.
I could hear a female voice call for me. Every time she spoke, her voice got louder as if I were getting closer, and yet I could never reach her.
Branches slapped my face and vines tangled around my ankles. I was a child again, small and weak.
Brexl.
There it was again, but the voice was coming from a different direction. I turned and tripped over a log. No, wait, it wasn’t a log. It was a jagwa! No, no, no!
I started to run, but the jagwa was faster than me. It was closing the distance between us.
NO!
A pleasant light pressure settled on my chest. I stopped running and the jagwa stopped chasing me.
This was a dream, just a dream.
