Inheritance

Part 2. Chapter 61: Weeping Willow

Taylor crouched, tilting his chin up with a pointer finger. "There, there, I said you were forgiven. You may stop groveling."

Before she could remove it, Them lifted her finger to his mouth and kissed it. Taylor went rigid. She bit her free arm to keep from moaning with pleasure as he kissed the rest of her fingers.

Taylor decided they were both enjoying themselves too much and tugged her hand away. She turned her back on him and began walking away.

Them scrambled to his feet and followed her eagerly. "Where are you going?"

"I want to show you something beautiful." Taylor responded.

As they walked, their surroundings changed.

The blue, pristine sky was gradually covered up by the curtain of black night. Ivory, leafless oak trees sprouted up from that ground, caging them in on both sides and forming a narrow hallway around them as they walked. There were balls of blinding light in the place of leaves hanging from the trees, delighting Them's senses.

Despite the beauty all around him, something weighed heavily upon Them's mind. "Taylor, I feel like I have forgotten something very important. I can't remember how I got to the dream plains, or where I was when I got to them..."

"I do." Taylor teased with a giggle.

"You do? You'll tell me, then?" Them asked, looking at his changing surroundings in amazement.

"Of course! Just let me show you something, first!" Taylor sped up her pace, Them followed suite.

At the end of the path of oak trees, a tiny puddle of water began to form on a patch of deep green grass. It gradually expanded into a shimmering lake. On the surface of the water, a reflection of twinkling stars gazed up at Taylor and Them.

"Is this what you wanted to show me...?" Them asked as he looked at his reflection in the lake. "It's gorgeous."

"There's something else in the lake." Taylor whispered, gesturing for him to look closer.

Them raised an eyebrow. Curiously, he leaned over the pond and gave it a thorough look.

He was enraptured by the amount of stars in the lake; their insurmountable delightfulness drew him in and wouldn't let him look away.

A high-pitched giggle escaped Taylor's lips.

Her hands rammed into Them's back—he lost his balance and fell in the lake.

Splash! The water swallowed him.

His surroundings were entirely black but for the twinkling stars that were now close enough to touch. He tried to grab one, but it disappeared in his grasp.

Something below him at the edge of his vision caught his attention.

He looked down. A stream of bubbles escaped his mouth in surprise.

A white light at the bottom of the lake blinded him; Them lifted an arm to protect his eyes.

When he uncovered him, the white light expanded, and he realized that what he was looking at was not a white light.

It was the top of a willow tree.

It shook the lake violently as it shot upwards.

He heard a splash. He looked up.

Taylor had dived into the lake.

Them opened his mouth—expelling a watery noise—Taylor pressed a pointer finger to her lips to quiet him.