“How . . . how is this happening right now?” Sarika asked, her focus on no one in particular.
“You,” Karayea said, extending a gnarled hand towards her, her fingers like twigs and vines. “I know you. I know your voice from the winds. You have guarded my sapling all these years. Protected her. I have listened to you two together when I could. I thank you, young guardian.”
“If I faint, please don’t let me hit my head on a rock,” Sarika said. Leila wrapped an arm around Sarika and hugged her close.
“What did they say?” Landon asked, taking a step forward. Leila looked up at him as he walked towards the dryad. “The men who came here, with the paint and the shears, cutting things. Did you hear them talking about anything? Their plans?”
Karayea shook her head slowly, the vines and leaves rustling on her head.
“They spoke of things unfamiliar to me,” she said, speaking as though she was forcing out every single word. “A museum, a marker, a mouse, and a man.” Her voice faded as she spoke, drifting with each word, and she abruptly fell to one of her knees. An audible crack echoed through the grove as she hit the hard earth. As if a massive gust of wind had hit the grove, piles of leaves fell from the neighboring trees, fluttering down and turning unnaturally quickly from green to red to yellow to brown.
“Oh, God!” Leila shouted, rushing forward as more leaves fell around her. She reached out and touched the dryad, gripping her branch-like arm, and felt the hard wood, moss, and ivy around it as she helped her back up. “Are you alright?”
“I am unsure,” Karayea whispered, her head down. The leaves and vines of her hair tickled against Leila’s face, but weren’t as bright green as they had been. Leila gazed down, and quickly noticed a large break in Karayea’s branch-like leg.
“Oh, oh no,” Leila said, looking up towards Sarika and and Landon. “Help me, let’s get her back into her tree.”
“Will that help?” Landon asked, hustling next to the dryad.
“I don’t know!” Leila said, panicking.
Landon quickly put an arm around Karayea, and Sarika joined Leila by Karayea’s arm. Together they walked her towards the center oak, the split wide and maw-like. It only split halfway down; Karayea had stepped out of the center of it.
“What do we do?” Leila muttered, looking at the large space.
“I’ve got her,” Landon said, wrapping his arms around Karayea, lifting her up. “My goodness, she’s heavy.” He placed her back inside the tree, and Karayea reached out to grip the sides of the oak and hold herself in place.
“I . . . I must heal or . . . or the land will suffer,” she muttered. “Go . . . Give me time. Find these men if you can . . . If you cannot . . .” She looked up, her bright green eyes fading into brown, and reached out her brambled hand to run the rough, bark-like fingers over Leila’s cheek. “You must go. Take your new family, your friends, and leave this city. Go where there is green. I want you to thrive, my sapling.”
She pulled her arm back into the tree, and leaned against the inside, closing her eyes.
The earth rumbled softly, and Sarika grabbed onto Leila, who in turn held her close, as the oak tree began to rustle. The leaves shook above them, and the front of the tree sealed up with loud snaps and cracks until it looked as though nothing was there at all.
THREAD: PROTESTING IN FAIRMOUNT PARK
SUBFORUM: PHILADELPHIA
PROTESTING IN FAIRMOUNT PARK
Posted by WithouttheY
AUGUST 23rd, 2017 | 8:02PM
I know it’s been a while since we organized to really do anything, but recently, an historic mansion and (more importantly) an ancient grove of oak trees have become the target of demolition in Fairmount Park. It’s in an area that doesn’t get a lot of foot traffic—in fact, it gets none. They are planning to place an amphitheater in there, and build a road into the area from Kelly Drive.
Anyhow, I’ll be assembling near the Horticulture Center to do a bit of protesting, and taking to social media to tell people what’s going on. I hope some of you will join! Just chime in if you’re interested, and I’ll send you a DM with details. It’s a public board, after all.
RE: PROTESTING IN FAIRMOUNT PARK
Posted by A Dash of Paprika
AUGUST 23rd, 2017 | 2:09PM
I’m in.
RE: PROTESTING IN FAIRMOUNT PARK
Posted by WithouttheY
AUGUST 23rd, 2017 | 2:09PM
Yes obviously. :-P
RE: PROTESTING IN FAIRMOUNT PARK
Posted by D Meier
AUGUST 23rd, 2017 | 3:09PM
Same, sending a DM!
RE: PROTESTING IN FAIRMOUNT PARK
Posted by A Jimenez
AUGUST 23rd, 2017 | 3:19PM
They’re tearing down part of the park, and no one knows about it? I am SO in. That’s messed up. Let us know what the hashtag will be on social media.
RE: PROTESTING IN FAIRMOUNT PARK
Posted by JessDeLaCosta
AUGUST 23rd, 2017 | 4:09PM
LOL. Man fuck your park. You bitches are standing in the way of progress.
RE: PROTESTING IN FAIRMOUNT PARK
Posted by A Dash of Paprika
AUGUST 23rd, 2017 | 4:15PM
JESS GET OUT OF OUR BOARD. YOU ARE SO BANNED.
RE: PROTESTING IN FAIRMOUNT PARK
Posted by PAPRIKA SUX
AUGUST 23rd, 2017 | 5:02PM
OH NO PLEASE DON’T KICK ME OUT WHAT WILL I EVER DO.
ECO-ACTIVISTS MESSAGE BOARD: PERSONAL MESSAGES [USER: WITHOUTTHEY]
FROM
SUBJECT
DATE
WITHOUTTHEY
THE PROTEST
Hey Toothless!
So this week we’re going to do a bit of protesting in Fairmount Park to save this grove and old mansion and yada yada. You can see the message board post in the Philadelphia section. You should come. We could finally meet.
I have to be honest. I might have met someone? I dunno. I know you and I been like, flirting a bit on here. I just don’t want to mess up anything. Don’t hate me?
8/23
WITHOUTTHEY
RE: THE PROTEST
Hey, did you get my last message? I hope you’re not upset with me. I’d really like for you to be there.
Are you seeing the drama with Sarika and that Jessica girl? She’s from our school, always starting shit.
8/24
WITHOUTTHEY
RE: THE PROTEST
Silence says it all. I’m sorry. ?
8/25
XVII
Leila stared out the window of Belmont’s science lab at the trees in the distance, at the edges of Fairmount Park that were visible from the school, and the green that dotted the city landscape. Trees throughout the area had already started changing color, bursts of red and orange and yellow scattered about like paint. What she once thought of as a beautiful sight was now entirely ominous, and filled her heart with dread.
“It’s happening already,” Sarika said, standing next to her.
“Yeah,” Leila said. She closed her eyes, and for the first time wished the voices would come to her, but they remained silent. The dryad in the woods, her mother. She stayed quiet.
“Are you sure this is the best idea?” Sarika asked, as she pulled out one of the stools in the science lab.
“I mean, there are a few people who are into saving the planet in this club,” Leila said, shrugging. “And I know Shawn is a bit of a tactless prick, but I think he actually means well. We texted a lot last night. He’s on our team.”
“Yeah, we’ll see about all that. You know I’m on hashtag-Team-Landon right now. Shawn fell off the leaderboard a while ago, and Toothless isn’t even on it. I still don’t know why you talk to that troll.”
“Oh God, there’s seriously not even a team to be on,” Leila said, giving Sarika a shove. “Toothless stopped talking to me, and who knows what’s actually going on with Landon. I feel like there’s something there, but I don’t know.”
“Wait, Toothless isn’t talking to you anymore?” Sarika asked. “Why? What happened?”