Chapter 4 #2
I nod sharply. “Okay.” I point to my nest, adding the sweater on top. “You. Sleep.”
“What about you? Don’t think we’ll both fit, do you? I’m pretty good at squeezing into tight spaces, though.” He waggles his brows and mine push together.
He laughs. “It’s a joke. I’ll…I’ll explain it after we know each other a little better.”
That can only happen if he keeps coming back here. Is he planning to? Will it be for more flowers?
“Not safe,” I say loudly.
“Getting to know you more, or coming here so that I can?”
“Coming here.” I claw at the dirt caked into the bark, looking anywhere but at him.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll be fine. I promise to wait until you’re around before getting into trouble again.”
I point my eyes down at him, puffing out a breath of air.
“Yeah, I know, I’m stubborn. Franky tells me all the time.”
“Franky?” I crawl closer, legs crossing.
“Yeah.” He moves to where his legs are touching mine. “He’s my best friend. And he’s engaged to someone from here.”
That piques my interest. “From here.” It’s a statement, not a question.
“Yeah. He’s um…I’m not sure there’s a name for what he is. He was created by some psychopath and is made up of like ten people or something.”
“Nova.” I nearly fall forward from too much excitement.
I haven’t seen him in so long and wondered if he was okay.
He’s in the human world, and engaged. It makes me happy to know that.
He wanted to live there and attend school more than anything.
I’d learned a lot from him too. I’d give him sap for his clients and in trade I got jars to store food in.
“Yeah.” His voice grows louder and his eyes light up. “You know him?”
I nod, placing my hands on my knees and leaning forward. “Trade.”
“What’d you give him?”
“Medicine.” I look down at the shiny coating on his elbow.
“The magical sap, huh? I can see that. It’s good stuff.”
“Good stuff,” I say, handing him a jar of capilarions.
He wraps his fingers around the jar. “Looks like mushrooms.”
“Capilarions,” I say.
“Strange name.”
“Mushrooms strange name,” I say back.
More laughter comes from him. “Yeah, it really is. Should we sleep now or maybe read a book?”
“A book?” Sounds familiar.
“Yeah.” He slips the jar I gave him into his sack and then hands me something with four pointy edges. “They tell stories. This one is called Bridge to Terabithia. Want me to read a little to you?”
I pull the two ends apart, flipping through the small sheets of paper. “Okay.”
“Okay.” He scoots closer, his side pressing to mine as he rests the book partly on his leg and the other side on mine, moving the paper.
“These are pages and this is the front of the book. Where the story begins.”
Resting my chin on a closed fist, I let my eyes follow his moving finger. “These are words.”
“Words.”
“Yeah…see…three more dates with me and you’ll be fluent in my language.”
“Dates with you. When you like being with someone for longer.”
“You got it.” His shoulder moves against mine.
I smile, and something lights up inside me when his face is so close to mine. “You want to go on more dates with me?”
My heart speeds up and I nod. “More dates.” Then panic sets in. “Not safe.”
“Nothing in life fully is,” he says so casually. “Ready to hear the story now?”
“Yes.” My fingers feel like they’re shooting magic from the tips as they trace over the same words as he says them out loud.
He flips through page after page, telling me about this magical place and two kids running away to it every chance they get.
So intrigued, I ask him to keep going every time he looks as if he’s about to close the book.
Yawning, he peeks outside and rubs his eyes. “I’m sorry, pretty birdy, but I’m exhausted. We can continue tomorrow. I can read until it starts to get dark again.”
Lips turning down, I scoot back with my hands in my lap. “Okay.”
“You really want to know what happens, huh?” Scooting next to me again, he wraps an arm around my waist and I can’t help but lean into him.
“Yeah. Tomorrow. Only three dates to read story.”
He huffs out a laugh. “I didn’t mean we would only have three dates. Just that…that’s all we’ll need to break this language barrier between us. Not that I mind. I like teaching you new words. I plan to come back way more than three more times. Maybe even take you back with me sometime.”
“With you?”
“Yeah.” His lips turn up against my cheek. “With me.”
I nod. “Sleep now?”
“Yeah.” He scrubs at his face, brushing his nose against the feathers close to my hair. “Sleep now.” Rolling away from me, he settles in my nest and balls the sweater under his head. I already miss him touching different parts of me with his nose and face.
“You coming?” He pats the space next to him, curling onto his side.
I think about it for a moment, and then knee walk forward until I’m lying beside him. I stretch out my body, covering both of us with one of my wings.
“So, you’re okay with us both lying here, right?”
“Me with you?”
“Yeah.” He leans his cheek on my shoulder.
“Yeah. I like me with you.”
“Me too.” His lips are warm against my cheek, and they trail down my neck and press tightly to me. “Night, pretty birdy.”
I close my eyes, taking in his scent as he cuddles me closer to him. He’s the best new addition my nest has ever had. Too bad he has to leave soon. Or maybe I can keep him here like everything else I’ve brought up from down below.