Page 112 of Beyond The Maples
I sit, pressing my palm flat against my chest. Calming myself.
Sibs eyes me, worry passing over her features.
"Maple, I know you came here for more answers... but I wonder." She looks at me empathetically.
"What do you wonder, Sibs?" I sigh.
"I wonder if you're running yourself into the ground a bit here? You have good friends; lean on them. It doesn't all have to fall on your shoulders," she says gently and with more compassion and clarity than I've ever seen from her before.
I frown.
"How do you know how much I'm taking on?" I can't help but sound skeptical.
She shrugs. "You know as well as I do that I'm not your average old lady."
I smile, because isn't that the truth? There is somethingotherabout her, even in the way she speaks.
"Well if you don't need to talk things through with me, ask the questions you came to ask, sweet Maple."
I smile at her, thankfully, and she returns it.
"Is Zaphiraa safe place to go?"
"Like anywhere, it has its problems. But if you're asking if it's better than here, I'd say absolutely," she chuckles.
I remind myself to ask more direct questions. Once again, I have little time.
"Is the government drugging us?"
"Yes," she muses.
"Why?"
"You know why," she reprimands.
"The roots you gave me, that was the antidote?"
She smirks this time, "so, it worked for you, then?"
"Do you have more?"
"Yes."
"Will it work indefinitely? Some memories are still hazy, but a lot has become more clear. We ran out of the herb. Is it a permanent fix, or will I start to forget again?"
"You'd slowly lose your memories again, and need more. Memory is a fickle thing. I'm sure you've realized there's more than one way for your brain to protect itself. People lose memories for a lot of reasons, and everyone's chemistry is different. It's why no one's really noticed or cared that the past has become so hazy—that our entirehistoryhas become clouded. Sometimes it's easier to forget. Anyway, I suspect this won't be a problem for you soon enough," she smiles.
I smile back at her this time. Of course she knows we're leaving.
"You could come with us. It would be a rough journey, but I think you're tougher than most, anyway," I offer sincerely.
She laughs at me now.
"That's very sweet of you, but my place is here."
I feel that pinprick of guilt expand when she says this. She's brave enough to stay and see it through. What does that say about me?
I remind myself that she doesn't have anyone depending on her for survival. Would I be brave like her if I didn't have Willowand Linden to think about?
