|
Michael blushed and handed the recorder back to her quickly. "I can't play."
She laughed again and Michael smiled widely. As he watched, she leapt from her seat and ran lightly toward a tree. Michael called out to her, but she just kept running. She knelt by a tree, turned, and rushed back. In her hands, instead of the recorder, she held a shallow bowl filled with raspberries. She offered them to Michael expectantly.
"Thanks."
Michael took some and only when he had tasted them did he realize how hungary he had been. "Aren't you hungary?" Michael asked. The girl pressed her lips together and reached for a raspberry. She looked at the berry, then Michael. Slowly she put it into she mouth. Her face contorted immediately as she bit into the berry and tasted its bitterness, but a glow appeared in her eyes once the bitterness had faded and the sweet taste remained. She reached for more.
|
When the berries were gone, Michael lay back onto the rock, suddenly tired. The girl watched him and mimicked his action, although not appearing tired. When he yawned, she did her best to imitate him, producing a humorous expression on her face. Michael's breathing grew slower and deeper until he was asleep. The girl lay beside him for several minutes with her eyes closed, then opened them. She watched him while he slept, intent on his every move. Even when his father found him, she watched.
"Where'd the girl go?" Michael cried, looking about.
But there was no girl, no recorder, no berries, no bowl. She was hidden from all who refused to see. Michael looked about in confusion, not wanting to leave the rock. All he could see were the trees and all he could hear was the wind of evening in the tree tops.
But she watched, just as she always had.
|
