Wood

I knew, as I started walking across town toward the train tracks, toward Georgina’s house, that she wasn’t there. It was the strangest, though definitive feeling. I just knew for a fact she wasn't there.

I also felt which way I should go to find her.

Ten minutes later I found her sitting on a bench across the street from the 18th street playground. I didn’t remember there being a park bench there before. But as I got closer to her, I saw that the bench was fashioned out of vines, not wood or metal. Georgina had made it herself.

I was careful to make some noise as I approached. I didn't want her, or anything else she might have out here getting surprised.

My girl wasn't the type to like surprises.

“You weren't home,” I whispered into her ear, bending down to kiss her cheek.

I didn't know what it was about her, but I finally knew what everyone was going on about when it came to kissing, and the other things that you'd get in trouble for at school. All of them lumped under PDA.

She sighed my name, turned her head, captured my lips with hers. Deepening the kiss.

As usual, she tasted like fruit. Fruit in that little bit of wild that was her. Just her.

“Are you talking to the tree?” I straighten, and look across the street to what she's staring at.

A large, red maple. But now the tree had been mutated, turned into some kind of monstrosity by the aliens when they came and pulled their apocalypse on us.

“It's a Jubokko,” she said in a singsong voice. A Japanese vampire tree that is born from blood shed during violent battles. They grow and become vampires.”

I look over and see not only small animals impaled on branches at all levels of the tree height, but also the corpse of a woman lying beside it. It had been hungry, and that woman had been very unlucky.

Offhandedly Georgia says, “Imagine the blood spilled in that little playground. Enough to create such a thing from a tree that was already fully grown.”

I smiled. “But I'm right, am I not? You were talking to it?”

She peers up at me very long eyelashes. Around her, I see the vines that formed the bench slowly move, weaving in and out of each other, reinforcing its design.

“I'm trying to talk it into moving into my shadow realm. It would be safer for it, and being out here where…” she looks around us, at the devastated town surrounding us. “For so many other things might harm it.”

I glance over at the tree again. “It's a predator. I think it can take care of itself.”

Georgina looks back to the tree, the happiness on her face evaporating, leaving a sad expression.

“Even predators can become prey.”

I think she was talking more about herself and the tree. But I let that go.

“Don't you already have one growing in your shadow realm?”

Has an expression softens, and a slight smile curves her lips. “It's lonely. As is this one.” She looks up at me, her eyes sparkling with a mischievous glee. “I think they would make a lovely couple.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Of course you would.” I lean down and kissed your lips again. I just can't help myself when I was around her. After all, I'd wanted to kiss her for years.

I just been too chickenshit to do anything about it. Well, until the end of the world.

“Will you need help transporting it back to your house?” I asked.

“Thank you for offering,” she purred. “But I already have a quick, efficient way planned. And I wouldn't want anyone to lose an arm or their life trying to wrangle it.”

“Dare I ask?”

As if by magic, a seed appeared in her palm. It glowed faintly red.

“With this I can grow a temporary gateway into my realm. From there I'll just shift him in.” She made to stand up, shifting her skirts to let them fall without wrinkling. “Somewhere on the land, close, but not too close to the other tree. Wouldn't want them to fight.” She started to walk past me, and I turned to walk with her.

“Once there, and if they do get along, they can move themselves closer to each other.”

So this tree was a male. And she knew that it could move itself if it wanted to. This new world of magic was truly a wonder.

Great and terrifying.

“I haven't convinced it yet,” Georgina said as we started to walk towards her side of town. “But there's time.”

We walked towards her house. As soothing stillness flowed through me. I always felt happiest when I was around her.

Maybe I should feel suspicious about having that feeling. But I don't. I don't think she's using magic on me.

I've been mesmerized by her since the first time I saw her. She certainly doesn't need any magic keep me feeling that way. All she has to do is… let me.

I reach out and take her hand in mine, and we stroll down the block, through the wreckage of our hometown, and back toward her house.

***

Mort

About a half hour later Teddy and I arrived back at the pizzeria. Everyone was home and helping to make tonight's Pizza.

Even Oz.

I'm about to tell everybody about the missing Rochelle girl, and about we didn't find when we went out to check oout where Jesse Jackass got killed.

But then an ear-piercing alarm went off–high pitched and deafeningly loud. And it seemed to be coming from outside. We all scrambled outside, some of us pulling out our weapons, Ellie pulling out orange spongy ear plugs for everybody, and passing them around.

I don't have holes to insert ear plugs, but I was just about to pull out my little crown of vines.

But abruptly the alarm died. In its place, a large screen appeared floating in mid-air. A 30 minute timer blazed on the screen.

New achievements! comes a sarcastic radio announcer voice. All of you, individually, have failed at whatever you were supposed to be doing today. Congratulations!

We all looked at each other, kind of confused. But, truthfully, Teddy and I had failed. We hadn't figured out what happened to Rochelle. But not for lack of trying.

For your utter ineptitude, dudes and dudettes, you have been given a quest.

A sinking feeling made its way through me.

If I actually had a stomach, that would be where this feeling would originate.

You five will have exactly 30 minutes to complete this quest.

Standing there, staring at the floating video screen, nothing happened for over a minute.

I turned to Teddy and asked, “Do you think we're supposed to say or do something?”

Teddy shrugs.

In the distance, we hear a strange–though for some reason, familiar–reptilian roar.

Everyone tenses, their grips on their weapons tightening.

The 30 minute timer started to flash red.

Your quest is about to begin. So what in the bejeebies is your quest?

The timer turned from red to black again, and it started to count down.

EVADE THE PINK BUNNY!!!

EVADE THE PINK BUNNY!!! Appeared in pink neon all-caps over top of the timer.

Ellie shook her head. I look to Teddy.

“The only pink bunny I've seen was the…”

And we hear the reptilian roar again.

Teddy's eyes widen, and he says, “That thing from the salt pile.”

We all said a collective, Oh shit…

Good luck! The announcer voice said in a sarcastic, sing-song voice.

We heard something scrabbling over the top of the pizzeria. We all turned to see the little pink bunny sitting innocently on top of the pizzeria’s roof.

We all take steps backwards.

For a moment all the damn thing did was just stare at us. But then it unfastened its face, and like some kind of fucked up flower, his face opens to show nothing but rows of sharp teeth, and a long slithery tongue.

Good god…

That reptilian roar rips out of its mouth, making everything–including my terracotta body–vibrate.

That radio announcer voice said we needed to evade the pink bunny. Not fight it.

“Run!” I scream, and start flailing my arms, trying to get everybody to start running.

Surprisingly, no one resisted, and we all end up running like… well, running like our lives depended on it.

I hazarded a glance back over my shoulder, and saw the pink bunny lopping down the the incline of the roof. But then it jumped down, and its little pink furry body morphing into a rather large, Doberman-like form. Just still pink, with the bunny ears, and the open face full of fangs. The thing started barreling after us monstrously fast.

“Run faster!” I called to everybody. Things just got way worse.