Dreamscape: Saving Alex

Chapter Eleven

Silence comes in three sizes—comfortable, pointed, and bitterly intolerable.

The first two, I wore easily enough for the first hours of our journey together, but the third didn't settle right. I wanted to apologize for earlier, but his dagger-sharp glances told me he didn't want to hear my excuses. The growing hush suffocated me. I only liked solitude when I chose to maintain it.

I struggled to keep pace with him, trampling bushes and flushing out animals on the bramble-crowded trail. Every step I took seemed to announce our location. Arrow glared with annoyance as he motioned for quiet.

"The whole point of taking this trail is to remain hidden," he snapped, disappearing into the lush vegetation. "Keep the noise down."

"I'm trying," I hissed.

"Try harder," I heard from ahead.

I scowled as I stepped over a fallen log blocking the path. He acted as if I was making noise on purpose. Keeping pace with him was hard enough; doing it quietly was impossible. What he called a trail was little more than a worn path winding between bushes and thorns. I certainly did not fit in the small clearance. Sharp brambles grabbed my legs with each step, threatening to pull the healing vines off me.

Branches swung in the distance as he ran ahead. I couldn't figure him out. He puzzled me in the most frustrating way. One minute he's kissing my hand and I melt under his charm, and the next he acts as if I am nothing more than a nuisance. Even looking back to the video game was no help. I could place the jugglers, even the market merchants, but not Arrow. He didn't match up to any of the characters I knew.

He had every right to be upset with me. I did almost attack him with my dagger. But in the middle of the woods—after beating up giants, for heaven's sake—how did he expect me to counteract his sudden movement? How could I not be wary of a stranger in an even stranger world? Help was the last thing I expected.

"Stop," he commanded, lifting his arm.

I dutifully followed his request. I could do that much, at least. But when I looked past him, to where the forest opened to a small clearing, I faltered. Tall grass rippled in the wind, with no signs of danger. After hours of trampling through close vines and brambles, I wanted to run through it and enjoy the open space. Why couldn't I? There was no one here to stop me.

"Arrow, this is wonderful!" I cried, moving past him to twirl into the warm meadow. He reached for me as I bounded forward, but his hand slipped off my wrist.

"Goldy," he said, then stopped with an amused grin. He leaned against the nearest tree as I spun in circle after circle. "When are you going to start listening to me?"

"When are you going to start listening to me?" I countered playfully, my arms extended to the sky. "This is amazing. You have to come out here. I can't tell you how good the sun feels."

"I'm good right here," he said. "You might not want to—"

"Seriously, can't you just enjoy a moment of fun?"

"Do you think we're here for fun?" he asked, one of his eyebrows shooting up.

"Everything can be fun if you want it to be," I said. "You get to make the choice, right? Just like I do. And I'm choosing to have fun."

"I'm fine right here," he said with a smirk. "You go have fun."

"Suit yourself," I said carelessly, advancing further into the sun-filled meadow, "but I'm not missing out."