A. Tree's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

A. Tree stepped onto the mud. His boot sank in up to the ankle. He pulled it free with a wet sucking sound and took another step. The ground shifted beneath him. He steadied himself with the basket and kept going, eyes fixed on the girl across the gap. Halfway across, a deep groan rolled down from the hillside above. He looked up. The slope was moving. Mud slid over broken trees that had already fallen, coating their twisted branches. The whole face of the hill sagged forward like wet cloth. If it came down, it would bury the road behind him completely. The path back to his orchard would be gone. He had two choices. Turn back now and save himself, or keep going and risk losing everything. The girl was still crying on the other side. Her face was the kind of hungry he had learned to recognize years ago. Behind him, the hillside groaned again, louder this time. A sheet of mud peeled away and slumped down toward the road. A. Tree took three more steps through the mud and reached solid ground on the other side. He set the basket down and pulled out the biggest, reddest apple from the top. The girl looked up at him as he held it out to her. She took it without a word. Behind him, the hillside gave way with a sound like thunder. Mud poured across the road, swallowing the place where he had just been standing. The way home was gone, but the apple was in her hands.