A New Life in Lawrenceville

Chapter 28

The forest proved to be difficult to move through. The trees were large and imposing. The roots from them overwhelmed the earth that they stood on. It is like the land had giant serpents slithering around it and binding the island. The branches were abundant with leaves, shading the whole area that Misty and I were traversing. Vines dangled from the trees, causing us to either duck or hop over them to keep going.

I stepped carefully between the thick roots to try and avoid tripping on them. It reminded me of playing a game as a child where you had to avoid stepping on cracks in the concrete or you risked "breaking your mother's back." I looked behind me and saw Misty was only a couple yards away.

I walk up to one of the trees and stand in front of it. I called back to Misty, "I'm going to climb this tree and see if I can get a better look at the area around here."

I put my arms around the tree and slowly drag myself up the wooden monolith. I inched my way up, my hands feelings around the tree for good grabbing points as my legs wrapped around it. I got about fifteen feet up when I reached a sturdy branch. I pulled myself onto the branch and attempted to look around. Most of what I saw was the tops of trees, which had the appearance of a green fog. Eventually I saw what seemed to be a large black spike that seemed to penetrate up from the forest. I squinted my eyes, and it appeared to be some type of rock formation.

I heard Misty's voice from below. "Do you see anything?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied, "It looks like a big rock formation. Maybe there is a cave where we can take shelter." I slowly work my way back down the tree and we start walking in the direction I saw the rock.

It took about an hour, but we eventually reached the rock formation. It was a massive obsidian stone. I looked around and noticed openings in various spots that looked like caves.

"It seems like we found shelter," I said.

We selected two caves that were right next to each other. The air inside our caves was cool. I sat for awhile inside my cave when Misty came over without a shirt. "I started fixing up my cave a bit," she replied, "Come see."

I walked over to her cave and saw she had gathered a huge pile of leaves inside her shirt and tied off the ends. She gestured to it proudly. "It works as a pillow and a place to sit," she said.

"Very cool," I replied.

"I can make you one with your shirt if you want," she said.

"That would be great," I said as I pulled off my shirt, "I can go gather some firewood and stones to make us a little fire pit."

Misty took my shirt, and I went back out into the forest. I broke off a decent number of twigs from fallen branches and some from a shorter tree. I walked back to where our caves were and dropped a nice pile of twigs. I looked around for a moment. I saw a new pillow made of my shirt sitting next to Misty's shirt.

"Misty," I called out.

"In here," she said. Her voice echoed from deep inside her cave. I walked a bit further down into the cave of pure stone. It got darker and darker, until eventually I saw a beacon of light coming down from the top of this rock formation. I saw Misty standing in front of what appeared to be an apple tree.

I walked up next to her and asked, "How can it be real?"

"I don't know," she said. She reached out and plucked an apple from the tree.

I knelt and touched the ground. There were no visible roots or soil. "How can an apple tree be growing out of stone?" I asked.

"Maybe it is growing from soil underneath the rock," she said.

"I suppose it is possible," I said thinking. I still couldn't figure out how a seed would have been planted underneath the rock, or how the growth could break through the rock.

Misty studied the apple in her hand, turning it around mechanically in her fingers. "Nature is capable of incredible things," she said, "It has a certain poetic beauty to it. A literal light in the dark."

I reached up and grabbed my own apple. Misty took a bite of hers, and her eyes lit up. She began to bite into the apple aggressively, some of the juices dripping down her chin to her chest as she reduced it to a core.

I chuckle to myself. "Pretty good apple?" I asked.

"I've never had anything like it," she said.

I looked at my apple and leaned in to take a bite. All at once, the cool juices of the apple filled my mouth. The flavor seemed to seep into my very tongue itself. I immediately took another bite, and another. I could barely stop myself. I was hungrier than I thought perhaps. My whole mouth seemed to have a pleasurable tingle from the apple. Soon this sensation seemed to wash over my face like a wave, and soon down my spine. I sat down on the ground for a moment or two. I looked and saw Misty sitting next to me. I had nearly forgot she was here.

After a minute or two, the sensation stopped. We stood up and looked around.

"That was very unusual," I said.

"Yeah," she replied, "It felt really good."

"True," I replied, "You have to admit this is not an ordinary apple tree though."

"Definitely not," she said.

"It might be best not to eat these again," I replied, "We have no idea what kind of long-term effect they have on health."

"True, but we haven't found any other food source yet," she said.

I thought for a moment. "Okay," I said, "I think we need to limit how much we eat until we find another food source on the island."

She nodded in agreement, and we walked back to the mouth of her cave.