Forest Fic

One

"The rain," Tyler says.
Josh nods, slowly.
"It's like..." Tyler pauses, searching for the word.
"Crisper," Josh says.
"Exactly", Tyler says nodding.
" almost like.." Josh frowns, "red? Maybe"
"Mostly," Tyler says. "With a hint of orange."
"Orange, right." Josh.points at Tyler."that's right. I keep forgetting that one." "A lot of things are orange, though," Tyler a says, frowning.
"Not where I'm from," Josh says darkly. " everything's just Blue-black there."
Tyler winces. "I can't even imagine that."
"Don't," Josh says firmly. He shakes his head. "Don't even try."
Tyler shudders a little. "Believe me, I don't want to."

Josh nods. "Good." He sits up straighter suddenly, cocking his head.
"My mom coming?" Tyler asks. Josh nods, standing up.
"Keep it short, yeah?" Josh asks as he closes the closet door.
"Okay," Tyler replies to the now- empty room.
There's a soft tap at the door before his mum pokes her head in.
"What are you doing, Tyler?" Tyler's mom asks while looking into the room.
"Talking to Josh," Tyler tells her. He immediately regrets saying anything.
"Tyler," his mom says, sighing. "Josh isn't real, remember? We've been over this before."
"Right, mom," Tyler says, nodding. "I'm sorry."
"Tyler,I..." His mom pauses, looking unsure. " don't apologize, okay? It's just that Josh doesn't exist.
"Okay," Tyler tells her, waiting for her to leave so Josh can come back out of the closest.
His mom looks at him, something yellow-red in her eyes. He forgets what the other people call it. Josh would know.