Phytoremediation

I am the shadows cast aside by the gallows and you, the red-hot sky

Basil woke up beneath cherry tree. He was on a hill surrounded by flowers, and was resting on Sunny's shoulder. Basil looked at Sunny's face with longing, his face looking back.

Wait... this is a dream.

Basil could tell by the longing on Sunny's face looking at him. It couldn't be real. Basil stood up, and hit himself in the face, both to check if he was really awake, and for being so dumb. Unsurprisingly, no pain.

The hills, flowers, and Sunny, all faded away. Leaving nothing but white in it's place.

Basil sighed. He wished he didn't notice it was a dream. Basil sat down for a few moments in place. Another Basil appeared before him. This one with odd blue hair, and a familiar flower crown.

"Why are you here? Nobody was supposed to come here anymore." The Basil spoke with the voice of his younger self.

"I don't know where this is, it's a dream anyway." Basil replied.

"It was, but then you came here. How'd you get here?" It asked, "Are you a new dreamer?"

"I don't know." Basil put his head down.

The other Basil sat down next to him. "Um... so..." it thought for a moment, "You like the past dreamer, don't you?"

Basil looked up at the other Basil. It smiled at him. "Who's the past dreamer?"

"His name was Sunny, I think!"

Basil's face turned a bit pink. "So you do like him, huh..." It gave a smug smile.

"You aren't even real, just go away, and let me wake up in the morning."

"Fine... but your feelings are requited! Sunny likes you back!" It smiled again, before Basil woke up.

Thanks for trying to cheer me up, I guess, dream me.

The dream quickly faded from memory, and Basil looked to his right.

Sunny was smiling at him, and then began blushing. "O-Oh, good morning, I just woke up too..." Of course, in reality, he had been look at his sleeping face for the past 10 minutes, but Basil did not know that.

Last night they got free room service for dinner, and decided that this morning they would go to eat breakfast in the dining hall. Basil's father owned the hotel, so they could get it delivered, but they felt more comfortable going to the hall.

Other than the receptionists giggling amongst themselves, things were going pretty okay. Sunny seemed a bit flushed at their chattering in English. "What are they saying, Sunny?"

"I-It doesn't matter, let's go eat."

Basil shrugged internally. No use worrying about that right now, food is more important. Basil's stomach audibly agreed.

The rush around the breakfast hall was minimal, since this was a tourist hotel, and it was only 8:00.

Basil and Sunny got the cheap pancakes and sausages onto their styrofoam plates. Sunny cringed at the loud scratchy sound it made when he cut through his sausages. Sunny tried one bite of pancakes, and immediately stopped eating them. "This maple syrup is inferior and artificial."

"I'll be sure to take that up with my dad." Basil giggled. They finished the mediocre hotel breakfast, and made their way outside, Basil's mother was to pick them up in 10 minutes now.

10 minutes was an overestimation, as Basil said a single word to Sunny before the limousine peeled around the corner. "Get in boys!" Basil's mother said, as the first words to her son in person in 3 years.