Where the Roots Begin

Beauty is not enough.

You can no longer quiet me with the redness

Of little leaves opening stickily.

I know what I know.

-Edna St. Vincent Millay

She walked back through the forest after Irvin left, swimming away. She walked and walked, every now and then stopping looking at the flowers she found and saying their names in her mind.

She suddenly felt a sort of pull, not a physical one though, and looked back.

There was a small trail of white flowers. They were the same she noticed when she first got to Antupainkia, the ones she mistook for snow, the ones she never noticed unless she stopped.

She had read about them in her book. They weren't a species she had had to learn, since they were supposedly extinct.

They were called Galanthus nivalis, also known as snowdrops. Alessandra liked the last name better. They were small, bell-like, white flowers with little green dots on their petal's tips. The strange thing was, it wasn't cold enough for them to have grown here, according to the book. But again, this was Antupainkia, a magic island with magic creatures and things weren't exactly logical.

When she first arrived, she hadn't seen what she had seen now, and she felt so stupid for not realizing it. It seemed so obvious now.

The flowers only appeared on the ground she had walked upon.

Why, though, she had no idea.

Snowdrops, she remembered, symbolized hope.

She felt like she was being watched. It was a feeling she knew.

"Hello", she said, before turning around. She already knew she would find Ollie, the dragon tree. He smiled, showing his teeth. He looked a bit scary, with such big teeth. But his voice soothed the feeling and changed it into something warmer.

"Hello, Alessandra".

She suddenly smiled, remembering her conversation with Orion. With Dmitri, actually, pretending to be Orion.

Such a complicated world this was.

"By what name should I call you?" Alessandra asked just to hear it herself.

"I do not have a name, for I am all" He said. Alessandra was delighted. "But the people of this land seem fond of calling me Ollie".

Alessandra had to try really hard not to laugh. Hearing a boy say his name was completely different from having the actual wooden giant dragon, calling himself Ollie, like the name felt weird on his own mouth. It was even adorable. He seemed resigned.

"Ollie", Alessandra said, trying the name. His blue eyes sparkled, and he started making a deep, ground trembling noise Alessandra assumed to be laugher.

"Have you figured it out yet?" Ollie asked suddenly serious.

"Figured what out?"

"Why you were brought here".

"No, Dmitri doesn't tell me much of anything".

Ollie stirred at Dmitri's name.

"You have to figure it out", was the last thing he said before going back to being the forest.