carob 21 + carrot cake 8 + butter pecan 10
Author: Kalei
Story: Of Earth and Man
Title: Quite A Fast One
Prompts: Carob #21 (interest); Carrot Cake#8 (look); Butter Pecan #10 (spicy)
Rating: G
Word Count: 295
Summary: As the forest beings assemble for a meeting of the council, a fellow encounters Tara for the first time.
She was a dryad, or should I say a human with dryad blood. Her coloring was mostly likely from her father. But she had those ancient eyes and leaves in her hair - and you know she didn’t get those from wrestling on the ground.
Mela’s daughter, they said. I’ve heard of her. The dryads of the forest don’t speak of her themselves. This is natural, I suppose, as they do not agree with the idea of marrying humans. But there is talk of this half-dryad among the wildflowers, among the swallows, among the butterflies.
She took her place beside me as we waited for the meeting to begin. It was quick, but I saw her glance at me before she sat down.
Hmm.
I couldn’t help myself. “Nice leaves.”
She turned to me with a wary expression on her face. “Uh… thank you, I guess?”
“Hey, is that an aprico-“
My fingertips hadn’t even touched her hair when she swatted my hand away.
“Watch it!”
“Whoa, you’re quite a fast one, eh? I was just-“
“No one touches my hair,” she snapped. “Especially since you look like you haven’t even washed your face, much less your hands.”
I tried to suppress a smile, but the corner of my mouth turned up. “What did you say?”
“Your face. It looks like you slept on the forest floor and forgot to wash up this morning.”
This time I didn’t even hide my laughter. The girl’s forehead wrinkled in confusion, which only made me laugh even more.
“You’re really not from around here, are you?”
She cocked her head to the side. “Of course I’m not. What’s so funny?”
“Well, I’m sorry if you find my face filthy, but see… I’m a son of the earth.”