Page 73 of Eat Me Alive
It whistles again, and it’s on the other side now. I have to chase it. The urge is…overcoming. My feet hit the ground running as it whistles again. I’m tracking the sound, my sole purpose to meet the thing making the noise. I know it. It can give me answers.
Surprisingly, I do not find myself in the forest. I find a path where the plants weren’t as dead. There’s an odor in the air I can’t put a finger on. It’s not unpleasant, but it’s just…very woodsy. Freshly-cut grass and trees.
My excitement grows at this. I pass by six-footer fungi, and it glows and dusts me with glitter. I look above, and there isn’t a sky. Instead, there’s a forest with pine trees growing above us like stalactites. Finally, it dawns on me there’s no drought here. Everything flourishes and thrives.
I feel prickling on my ankles. When I look down, I see tiny plants, venus flytraps biting me. No, not biting me,greetingme. They are telling me something I can’t understand.
“Do I have to eat you to understand?” I joked.
They all make a thin screeching noise and burrow themselves into the ground. That’s a no, then.
“It’s alright, I won’t eat you.” I straighten and survey the area. It’s a vast land, but there’s an undeniable pulse in the ground. A heartbeat. The whistle sounds louder, echoing around the meadow. The plants rise and lean to a direction in unison.
“Do I go there?” I ask them. It sounds silly, but I’ve come to terms that nothing should make sense to me.
The trees sway and the flytraps nod together. Adrenaline rushes through me as I run as fast as my legs take me. The grass parts to give me a clear path to follow until I see it. It is humungous—the size of a small mountain.
A plant trapped in amber, but it’s just not one particular plant.
I recognizehim.I named him.
Brother Bear in my dreams, but here, his size is unfathomable. My bones quiver at the sheer incredulity and fear I feel. He does not look cute and fluffy, this is a creature meant to raze down worlds and swallow them whole.
Something whistles again, and it is from him. I don’t know how he makes this sound, but I know it’s him calling me.
Slowly, the cloud in my mind disappears as I remember bits and pieces of my life. It doesn’t overwhelm me, just giving me enough to think through and process.
“You’re real…” I gasp.
He whistles softly, telling me he hears me. I step closer to the wall of amber, realizing this is where the smell comes from.
“How do I get you out?”
Brother Bear makes a low, mournful sound. He doesn’t know. I wrack my brain until it hurts. Remembering memories buried is…painful, to say the least. Literally. There’s this subject called geology. It should have at least taught me the natural makeup of amber and how to break it down.
“Ethanol, turpentine, ether…but these are dangerous. I can’t douse you in those.” The words flow out of my mouth by instinct. My body remembers what my mind can’t.
The ground begins to shake, and something wet plops down my thigh. A drop of water.
“Rainwater?”
He whistles twice, happily and I just know I gave him the right answer. There’s no way amber is water-soluble, but still… I slam my back down the ground.
“Once again, Xiaoyu, NOTHING SHOULD MAKE SENSE!”
I rub my hands over my face and notice I’m glowing. Shimmering. It must be the fungi’s spores earlier.
“I read on my notes I’m here to help the sprouts survive, but it’s as if the whole island is against logic.”
There’s a low, cheeky whistle that suggests some kind of hesitant agreement. Brother Bear doesn’t take, so I keep asking him yes and no questions.
“Do you know what’s happening to the sprouts? Whistle twicefor yes.”
Yes.
“It’s really so fucking sad. Some are about to hatch soon, and the weather’s still shit.” I mutter, admitting this to him feels comfortable. I lay my head against the amber, tense.
I knead my forehead, trying to remember more of my conversations about something trapped in amber. The word incubator comes to mind. Incubator that’s been trapped in amber for centuries.
