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He pressed his hands to his trim waist.
“Let go of the tree,” he said.
“Never.”
“Come on. I won’t let you fall. And neither will the tree.”
“Sorry to tell you this but the tree isn’t going to save me. It’ll turn me into mush so it can eat me.”
“Sure, it’ll save you. Want to see how it works?”
“Not particularly.”
“Goodbye, cruel world!”
Dyrel stumbled back as if he’d taken a blade to the stomach. He tumbled over the branch’s edge and was gone.
I screamed and clenched my eyes shut even tighter.
Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.
He’d committed suicide.
I can’t believe he just did that.
Right here, right now.
If anybody saw what happened, they were going to think I pushed him.
I’d be locked up for the rest of my natural life.
Now how was I supposed to get out of this tree?
Then something miraculous happened.
Dyrel floated back up onto the branch. He stood there, quite calm and serene.
“You can fly?” I said.
“Not without the aid of a shuttlecraft.”
“Then how are you here and not a bloodstain down there?”
“I told you. The tree won’t let me die. When I fall, the tree’s vines reach out and catch me. Then they place me back on the tree from where I fell.”
“What? That’s impossible!”
“It’s not. You see, this tree is very unique. It’s called the Nurture Tree. It has these flowers, and when they’re ready, they spit out their seeds. But sometimes the seeds fall too early. So, instead of letting the seeds land on ground where they would only die, the Nurture Tree catches them and puts them back where they belong. They stay there until they’re ready.”
“But you’re not a seed.”
“No, but the tree doesn’t know that. All it senses is something falling from its foliage. Don’t believe me? Look up there. See that seed? The wind’s about to knock it free. Ready? Watch.”
I forced my eyes open—at least, I managed to force one eye open—and watched as the seed plummeted from the foliage, down toward the ground below.
The vines disengaged from their position around the trunk and latched onto the fallen seed. Then it drew it up and placed it, carefully, back in its foliage. Then the vines returned to the trunk.
“Do you want to try?” Dyrel said.
