Amentia

Chapter 21 - Noticed

It was strange how quiet the forest was. There were only mild sounds of small animals which the girls never managed to get a glimpse of, and the ruffling of leaves. Sometimes the buzzing of insects got louder, but the girls never saw more than a few flying nearby. It was a strange place. The plants and flowers all looked very exotic, with their purple leaves and amazing sizes and unusual shapes. But the insects were familiar: flies, bees, mosquitoes, ants, spiders, they all looked exactly the same as back home. They still hadn't run into any other animals, but Zoe said there were rabbits and snakes underground. She said it felt weird to have her feet sunk into an earth with magic flowing through it and finding such common animals moving around in there; it was like a wonderful contradiction. But she also said there were other living beings underground besides animals, though they were too far away for her to tell what they were exactly.

"What is it like to feel what happens in the earth?" Nati asked Zoe as they walked side by side. The path here was very rough, hardly clear at all, so they had to pay attention to the ground to avoid tripping over anything. They also had to be careful not to run into any low branches, since they were thick enough to tumble you down. There were no flowers here, though, which made it seem more monotonous, regardless of the exotic purple of the grass and leaves.

"What is it like?" Zoe mused; it took her a moment to come up with the proper explanation. It was the first time anyone had been interested in her connection to the earth. "Well, you know when people who have bad eyesight put on glasses for the first time and realize how bright and sharp the world is? That's how it feels for me. If my feet aren't touching the ground, the world is blurry and confusing. So, walking around in a place with nothing but earth feels warm, comforting and relieving, to say the least."

"It doesn't freak you out or feel weird for you that you can feel worms and other things under your feet," Nati said.

"No, the opposite."

"Amazing..." Nati said, pondering over what life must be like for someone who depends on nature to stay sane. "Wait, didn't you say you're from Manila?" Nati asked. Zoe gave a long nod with raised eyebrows and a tired expression in her eyes. "One of the most heavily populated cities in the world, filled with polluted air."

"That's the one."

"So this must be like paradise for you."

"Pretty much, yes," Zoe said, giving a sincere smile of relief as she lowered her torso to avoid a low branch with wide, shiny and soft purple leaves. Zoe never moved branches away; she went out of her way to avoid disturbing any plant unnecessarily, and if she did move it, she asked for permission and did it gently. "This is the first time in my life I actually feel like a real person," she said with a spark in her eyes.

"So, I guess that when the portal is fixed you won't be using it."

"I doubt it."

When Margaret had told them she'd been living in the village for twenty years, Nati had thought it was crazy and cruel to leave your entire life behind without a word, she certainly couldn't even imagine purposefully leaving Santi and her family all alone; but Zoe's voice and expressions as she spoke made her consider a different point of view. Life wasn't the same for everyone, and something that seemed unthinkable for her was someone else's only shot at true happiness.

Not two full hours since they'd set off, they arrived to the stream. Although calling it a stream was being generous, since it wasn't even deep enough to sink your whole foot in it. While Nati and Zoe refilled the canteens, the rest took the opportunity to relax and splash some water on their face. The late morning sun was quite strong and the break was needed by all.

Leisurely and without saying a word, Anna took off her shirt and washed her armpits, splashing water on herself. Anna's freckled porcelain skin glistened when the leaves of the trees above moved with the breeze and let the sunlight through. Her red wavy head of hair slipped down and covered her chest as she knelt forward to reach the water on the stream, making her look almost like a mermaid right out of a storybook, regardless of how greasy and heavy her hair was getting and the unfortunate beige pants that in no way resembled a mermaid's tail. Looking at her as she refreshed herself was like watching a beautiful animal in its natural habitat.