The Trees Up North

Chapter IV

My shoulder felt like it was being lightly tapped. I barely opened my eyes; all I could see were two light blue eyes in front of me. Rubbing my eyes and yawning, I feel Pine move off the bed. Confused by what had just happened, I slowly sat up and looked around the room. It had stopped snowing outside, and the sun peaked in through the window. In the middle of the room, Pine sat by the fire. He had a pan over top with some cooked eggs and pork. He looked up at the food and smiled, motioning for me to join him. I sat down beside him, grabbing a plate from the floor.

"You got busy this morning, huh, Pine?" I asked him as he plopped an egg onto my plate. He looked at me. The sweater he was wearing was slightly short at the wrist, showing the bandages. Pine smiled warmly, revealing a small dimple on his face where his patch of skin was.

The sketch book sat in front of him. Pine quickly flipped to the page where he was writing yesterday.

"Mylo woke me up early." Pine's pencil scratched at the paper.

Confusion washed over my face. "Who is Mylo?" Pine pointed over my shoulder to Marlow's bed. A fluffy gray moth lay beside the green snail. Every now and then, the moth's wings would shake.

I turn my head when I hear the pencil hitting the paper again. "The moth, they are my friend. Their name is Mylo." Pine sketched on the paper with his pencil.

"You have a moth as a friend?" Shock filled my voice. Pine looked at me with a narrow face.

"You have a pet snail named Marlow; you can't say anything, Cedar." Pine wrote quickly on the yellowish paper.

I took a bite of the egg, which was slowly cooling on my plate. I turned my head to look back at the moth and snail. They laid there peacefully.

"You have a fair point, Pine." I say this with an egg in my mouth. "How did Mylo find you, though?"

Pine replies with a shrug. He poked the little piece of ham on his plate with his fork. "Mylo has his ways," he wrote.

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I buttoned up my green jacket. I wanted to go shoveling now that it wasn't snowing and check for any damage to the cabin. Behind me, I saw Pine reach into the wardrobe, taking out his bloody light green coat.

"Pine!" I raised my voice to get his attention. "What are you doing?"

Pine points his two fingers up before pointing them forward. Then he took his left hand and brought it up to his face, pinching all of his fingers together and moving his hand back and forth.

"Huh?" I asked. Pine proceeded to roll his eyes before continuing to put on his jacket.

"No, you are not wearing that." I sternly took the bloody coat from Pine and put it back in the wardrobe. I then took out a nice, clean, light brown jacket and put it in Pine's arms. "If you are going outside, take a clean one." Pine immediately started putting on the brown jacket.

I grabbed my scarf off the hooks by the door and wrapped it around my neck. I opened the door, bracing for the cold winds and snow.

The snow was knee deep. I had to work my way around to grab the shovel sitting on my deck. I started to dig and shovel snow off the walkway, though I knew that no matter how hard I worked, the process would never be complete since my walkway went right into the woods. Behind me, I heard snow crunching.

Pine was wandering around in the snow, letting out quiet hums. He made tiny noises, but they sounded rough and unpolished. It was like Pine had lost his voice. I stared at him as he danced around in the snow, Mylo flying around him. Everything seemed to slow down; his eyes caught mine, and he smiled a little. I watched as he slowly lost his footing and tripped over a small pile of snow. Pine landed straight on his back in the snow, trying his best not to land on his arms. I laughed as he lay helpless in the snow. Mylo hung on to the light brown jacket that he was wearing.