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The second I opened my mouth to confront my reality, the tears would start, and I wouldn’t be able to stop them.I hated crying.
Along the way, we stopped a few times to eat a selection of plants that Vitri chose, pointing out which parts were safe and edible and which were not.We’d drink from the trees as he had shown me the previous day, and I’d been able to get him to leave me alone only long enough to squat behind a tree for a moment of privacy to relieve myself.
The forest changed, and the large roots that dove in and out of the ground surrounded by the bright flowers and vines were replaced with thinner trees, still of the deep, earthly green but ascending into the sky for at least ten feet before the first branches appeared.Just when I thought I would run out of energy, Vitri stopped by a cluster of trees that looked no different from the rest.I didn’t want to stop again until we got there, and my shoulders slumped with the effort to keep awake.Another break and I just might not be able to get back up, and I certainly wasn’t going to let him carry me.
Vitri nudged me, and when I glanced up at his face, it was adorned with his gorgeous grin.I pressed my lips together in a vague attempt to return the smile I couldn’t find the energy for.Then he pointed up, and my jaw dropped.
He lived in a fucking tree house.
It wasn’t elaborate, but it didn’t need to be.It was simply a well-disguised platform amongst the higher branches, made from intertwining strips of wood.It had walls and a roof and looked like it would be well protected against the winds at night.One of the supporting trees was the type that provided water, so he would have a constant supply in his home.
“My God, Vitri,” I breathed out the words, everything else momentarily forgotten.“It’s beautiful.”
His chest literally swelled with pride at my words, and with agility that surprised me for his size, he leaped at a nearby rope, and the muscles in his arms worked as he pulled himself upward.He then waggled the rope around in front of my face, and I balked.
“You’re kidding, right?I can’t climb a rope.”Flashbacks to gym class haunted my mind, andthatrope had knots it in.This was just a rope, a vine even, tied to a tree with no means to get any foothold.When there was a chuckle from the treetop, I glared at him.
“Next time, I’ll carry you then,” he yelled, seeming to take great joy in the idea he would need to carry me up and down to his home.“But this time, just grab on.”
I muttered a string of obscenities, wound the rope around my wrist and palm, and held on with both hands for dear life.I couldn’t contain the squeak of alarm as I was jolted upward before Vitri began a steady pull on the vine, lifting me to his home.Repeating the mantra ofdon’t look downin my mind did nothing, and when I, of course, looked down, I moaned.It looked so much higher from the elevated vantage point.
Stumbling onto the platform, I grabbed Vitri’s arm to steady myself, trying to bite back a squeak of fear that threatened to escape.This section had no barriers, and I felt exposed and vulnerable.He chuckled again, allowing me to keep a vice-like grip on his arm until we were inside the treehouse and he had pulled the door closed behind him.I let go and moved across the floor, marveling at how cozy it appeared.The water tree was in the corner, and the steady stream of the clear liquid created dapples of movement in the light as it trickled down and out of sight beyond the floor.There was a large pile of what appeared to be teal animal skin and furs in one corner and a selection of spears and weapons in another.
The floor creaked as Vitri moved toward me, and I squealed again, clinging onto the nearest beam.“It’s sturdy, right?”
In response, Vitri simply chuckled and began jumping up and down on the platform.I screamed at him to stop, not finding it even half as amusing as he evidently did.The tree house shuddered, ominous creaking adding to Vitri’s laughter at my discomfort.But it didn’t budge, crack, or even bow, and Vitri was still laughing as he came to a stop and pulled me against him.The deep rumble of his laughter through his chest vibrated against my ear, and he held me as my breathing slowed and my heart stopped threatening to burst free from my chest—images of plummeting to the ground still vivid in my mind.
“That wasn’t funny!”I cried as I pulled away.
Vitri smirked again.“Yes, it was.”
I huffed out an unimpressed breath and moved to find a place to sit.Vitri made his way over to the pile of furs and began pulling out pieces, holding them in front of himself and either discarding them back into the pile or putting them aside.
Exhaustion began to take over, and I sunk to the floor, my back against a supporting beam.“You said there was somewhere for me to bathe?”I asked.
Vitri nodded, his smile hesitant as he gazed at me.“There is, but I don’t think you’ll like it very much.It’s on the roof.”
“On theroof?”
“Rest.I’ll make you clothes.Tomorrow, you bathe, then I’ll give you time to think.”
I nodded, curled up into a ball, and whispered a thank you when Vitri draped a fur over me.
I wasn’t even sure I wanted time alone to think anymore.
I think I just wanted to stay right here.
***
Either I was more exhausted than I thought, which I put down to emotional and mental overload, or Vitri’s tree house really did keep the winds out.Or both.Because I slept the rest of the day and all night, waking up in the morning only when Vitri shook me gently awake and handed me a water bag to drink from.
“Would you like to bathe before you try on your new clothes?”
I sat up, the fur that had been draped over me fell to the floor, and I rubbed my eyes with the ball of my palms.“Yeah, that would be nice.”
Vitri nodded, and his grin returned as he helped me to my feet, moved me into the center of the tree house and pulled open a trapdoor in the ceiling.I swore as his hands found my hips, hoisted me up without prior warning, and waited for me to grab the edge and haul myself onto the roof.I gripped the panels of wood, finding fingerholds easily in how they were weaved together and clung on as Vitri pushed me through the opening.As I waited for him to pull himself up, I breathed a sigh of relief that there was a small fence-like barrier around the roof.
“How long did it take you to build this place?”
