Chapter 13
ϕVeraϕ
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was so sweet, and I wasn’t really used to it. Clearly he thought we were friends, which was a strange relief to me. Maybe I didn’t have to be so alone anymore. It was a warming thought. I bet the tree would be beautiful soon. I had only seen cherry blossoms in pictures, never really in person up close. But I hadn’t climbed a tree in a long time.
“For real?” I asked him. He just nodded.
“This is one of the best views!” He said. I looked at the branches and jumped up and grabbed onto one of the lower branches. I slowly lifted myself up, trying not to show my struggle. Zac floated gracefully down and sat next to me.
“Am I there yet?” I asked.
“No. You still have a ways to go.” He said. I felt my nose wrinkle a little. “What’s wrong?” He asked.
“I’m gonna need a lot of practice.” I said and got back up and hugged the tree trunk, and got myself up onto the next branch.
“Are you afraid of height?” Zac asked.
“Maybe a little, but it’s not awful.” I answered. I wasn’t used to it is all. Of course the idea of falling is never pleasant.
“You’ll get better.” He said. I smiled at him and climbed another one. And looked down.
“Uh oh.” I muttered.
“What’s wrong?” He asked.
“I forgot I have to get down.” I said.
“Just get down the way you came up, or jump.” Zac said simply. I blinked at him and looked down. Then took a deep breath and got down near the tree trunk. Then started down the second time, and slipped and slid down the whole way.
“Ow.”
“Are you ok?” He asked, coming down to me.
“Yeah I’m fine.” I said. He floated down all the way and looked down.
“No you’re not, you’re bleeding.” Zac said. Then I felt something tickle my leg. I glanced down as saw blood gushing from my knee.
“Oh.” I said simply. I had a rather high pain tolerance, and I didn’t even really notice.
“So go get cleaned up.” He said. I nodded and went into the house where mom saw me.
“Vera! What did you do?!” She exclaimed.
“I was climbing down a tree and was stupid.” I answered and chuckled. Mom always panicked when I got hurt.
