Trees

When Crina has to protect a secret that harms her, she finds that she can't always give the best explanation. Not my best work.

I followed him down to the grove. He didn't see me. He didn't hear me. I could move silently, even in the most dense brackets, if I wished to.

It puzzled me how humans could make so much noise as they walked. Several of them, in groups, couldn't hear their own footfalls. Add talking on top of that and there was no way that they would notice the disturbance that they were causing.

Still, I had learnt at a young age exactly how to walk to erase the sound of my steps. That wasn't to say that I couldn't make noise if I wished, but there was little reason for me to ever consider it. The noise of others clouded my thinking. Why would I want to add to that?

Aurel stopped just in front of the largest tree I had ever seen. I had been into the forest, but never this far before. He pulled out a knife and before I could stop myself I stepped out and announced my presence with a cry.

“No!” I yelled.

“Crina? What are you doing here?” he asked me.

I looked around for my basket. It was explanation enough on its own, but it seemed to have vanished. I must have left it near the blueberry thicket.

“I could ask you the same thing,” I said back.

“Olga hates me,” he said softly.

“Olga Vladimirescu? Your sister-in-law?” I clarified.

“The one and only. Is there any other Olga in town?”

I opened my mouth to respond. He was obviously not familiar with anyone outside our age group.

“I didn't mean for you to answer me,” he said. “I just don't know what to do. She's my brother's wife. We're supposed to get along, but we don't.”

Aurel was in an interesting situation. His sister-in-law was considered the most beautiful woman in the town. Her dark hair and hazel eyes complemented her olive skin beautifully. She was slender, but not to the point of poor nutrition.

And yet, as beautiful as Olga was, she was insanely shallow. Everyone knew that she had married Ionel simply because he was the most handsome man in town. It was the same reason that he had picked her.

“And that brings you out here with a knife because,” I said prompting him. I just had to know what he intended to do.

“You're a strange girl, Crina Dalca,” he laughed. “I hope you know that. Only you would jump out to stop someone from hurting a tree.”

I froze. I couldn't tell him that they weren't simply plants. I couldn't tell him about the secrets that they held, the way they cried out in anguish that tormented me when they were harmed. I couldn't tell him that they were homes to more than the creatures that were seen.

“I... I just.. I really like trees. Yeah. I like trees,” I muttered trying to give some explanation.

He laughed. “You'll be happy to know that I didn't come here to hurt your trees. I came here because there always seem to be branches on the ground. Whittling always helps me calm down.”

He ruffled my blonde hair and I shrieked at him. For a moment it almost seemed as though we were children once again. The cares of adulthood had slipped off our shoulders.

Suddenly, I remembered my basket. It was somewhere, hopefully where I had left it and still full of blueberries. My mother was going to mad if I came back empty-handed. And it would be getting dark soon.

I ran out of the grove as fast as my feet could carry me, and just as silently. The basket was safe and full. Nothing had been disturbed. Life was good.