The Valley of Flowers Read online

  Puncher approached, gawking around Dramble’s concerned posture and down at Elly’s unmoving form. Fearing the worst, he compassionately placed his hand on Dramble’s shoulder, feeling his longtime friend’s pain and grief.

  In a reflex action, Puncher’s attention suddenly turned to their exposed position, sheltered only by lifeless trees and bush on a small, blackened hill. Then with a gasp, he scrutinized the desolate scenery, convinced Dramble’s concern for Elly had left him blind to his new predicament.

  Caught between his friend and duty, Puncher’s time was growing shorter and he had to make a decision: either go back to the entry point before it closed off his escape or stay and remain trapped in this strange place, too. Anxiously, he scanned the incredible surrounds and then back at his friend, knowing Dramble wouldn’t leave Elly and any attempt to convince him otherwise would be futile.

  As if in slow motion, Puncher threw his arms around Dramble in a panicked embrace. “May the Son forgive us for what we have done and may God be with you, Dramble. I have to go before I am trapped here, too. Forgive me, my friend, but I cannot stay!”

  Puncher’s embrace tightened around Dramble and Dramble returned the hug, knowing full well they had done something expressly forbidden but had no idea how far reaching the consequences or what the outcome of their actions could possibly be.

  “Thank you for your help, Puncher; I will not forget this. Now go! Leave before you can’t find your way back,” a tremor accompanied Dramble’s speech, hoping his friend wouldn’t pick up on his trepidation and waste time trying to convince him to return.

  Dramble’s faltering gaze followed his friend, tracking his own footsteps back to the place he had come in and then turn to signal his final adieu, but just as Dramble lifted his hand to wave back, Puncher vanished into an illusion of brittle gnarly trees, dead thorny shrubs and burnt black sand.

  Dumbfounded and now sentenced to this strange new place, Dramble rushed to the spot where his friend had disappeared, but finding only an impenetrable mass of lifeless vegetation and no indicators that Puncher had ever been there.

  Even his footprints were now gone.

  The finality of Dramble’s choice expressed itself in a nervous swallow. It appeared that wherever they were, was now a permanent addition to their landscape and if Elly survived, she would need his unseen guidance more than ever now.

  But what if she didn’t...? What then?

  Dramble began to panic, disoriented and disgusted, staring at the desolate scenery starkly contrasting the accident site and wondering where they were, and whether his actions had contributed to the destruction he currently overlooked. As far as the eye could see, black and charred remains of small, crumbling brick buildings, reduced to rubble, spilled into once tidy suburban streets and littered the horizon in what loosely could have been described as some kind of city.

  The sun appeared to be on a collision course with the earth, strangely close to the horizon and enormous against the backdrop of the sky. It’s massive size reflected distressing red shadows across the panorama, but too impotent in its power to light the landscape properly. Dramble felt a chill tease the back of his neck. The sentinel that had stood guard over the earth for millennia, heating its surface and driving the weather systems, was now more like the full moon on a cloudy and brisk night, even making it difficult to guess the time of day. It seemed to smoulder in its orbit, constantly surrounded by dirty smudges and brown, polluted fog while the atmosphere reeked with the heavy scent of stagnant sulphur.

  Dramble pulled in a cautious breath and held it for many seconds, staring up at the huge spherical ball in awe and at the same time straining his hearing, hoping to identify the slightest movement. But the ambience was as still as death; not even a bird disturbed the bizarre quiet.

  Then unexpectedly, a groan nearby caught Dramble’s attention and severed the silence. Instinctively he spun around, searching for the disorder and directed his gaze back to where Elly was lying. She began to stiffly move and attempted to raise herself unsteadily into a sitting position while gawking around, trying to come to terms with her fuzzy surroundings. Relief flooded through Dramble’s body and the familiar protector instinct arose, pushing down his own astonishment and disbelief, then rushing to her side in a desperate bid to offer her his assistance.

  “Oh...! I feel awful, where am I?” Elly rasped hoarsely, holding her head, trying to maintain herself in a sitting position and make sense of the stark, tangled bushy scenery.

  Dramble sighed in frustration. “I don’t know, Elly,” he answered, thinking she wouldn’t be able to see or hear him still, while his spoken reply was more for his benefit than hers.

  “Who are you?”

  Elly’s innocent deep blue eyes unnerved Dramble, as if she was gazing into his very existence and trying to determine whether he was a threat. The unexpected question disturbed him; she shouldn’t be able to see him at all. But to his shock, she seemed to be scrutinizing him as if she could see him, and her unmoving gaze caused him to stare back in disbelief.

  A thought suddenly overtook him and he spun around, searching the area, making sure she was speaking to him, instead of someone else who may have stolen onto the stage, unnoticed.

  “C..can you see me, Elly?” Dramble stammered, returning to her piercing gaze.

  “Of course I can! What sort of a question is that and how do you know my name?”

  Dramble dropped into a stunned silence and looked away for a few moments, trying to take stock of the strange situation, then finally he answered under Elly’s intensifying gape. “I have known you since you were a little girl, Elly.”

  Dramble suddenly wondered whether the matter-of-fact statement was just a little too familiar and would lead to other questions he wasn’t sure he could–or should–answer. Elly’s incredulous and puzzled frown creased her delicate features. Dramble knew the questions were only going to get deeper.

  “How could you have known me since I was a little girl when you don’t look to be more than a small boy of ten or so yourself?!”

  Elly’s quick mind was working just fine and her injuries seemed to have faded. In an attempt to sidetrack her, he turned the direction of the conversation, “How are you feeling, Elly?” deflecting her from any further interrogation.

  Elly sensed the small boy was trying to divert her attention away from her questions. That’s when she finally noticed the destruction around her, stretching in every direction to the horizon and the huge red sun and weird sky that stood guard over it. The sight held her silent gaze for many moments, contemplating the devastation, her eyes big and round in astonishment.

  Things just weren’t making sense.

  To make the situation worse, a worrying recollection teased her mind, adding to her confusion. Then turning her attention back to Dramble, she sighed heavily as if she was trying to recall her thoughts. “I seem to remember... a car... tumbling over and over and crushing metal and shattering glass.”

  Then realisation dawned in an explosive recollection.

  Tina...!” she gasped suddenly. “Is she alright?!” The concern etched deeply on Elly’s features and she searched the vista frantically, expecting to see some trace of the car accident. But finding nothing she recognised, another astonished thought demanded an answer, raising a concerned red flag and hoping her suspicions were wrong. “A..Am I... dead?!” Her eyes hollow with fear, Elly gawked past Dramble to the destruction once again and expected to hear him confirm her demise and that this desolate place was the land of the deceased.

  Dramble’s voice set in a baritone whisper, seemingly too deep for his age. “No, Elly, you’re not dead; that’s the only thing I can be sure of at the moment.”

  She sighed in relief, but Tina’s unknown predicament and the outcome of the accident was still bothering her.

  “As for Tina and your other friends, I just don’t know. I can’t explain where we are or why you can see me, either. It’s all a big mystery t
o me also. By the way, my name is Dramble; that’s two things I know for certain.”

  Elly tilted her head in surprise and studied the small boy in front of her. “Dramble? That’s an unusual name for a boy; and why wouldn’t I be able to see you?”

  Her incredulous voice was suddenly interrupted by a small scraping movement among the nearby ruins. The noise, in usual circumstances, may have gone undetected but in the deathly quiet that surrounded them, it sounded like an enormous ruckus.

  “Sshh!” Dramble ordered, stopping Elly before she could reload with another question and listened to the stillness with caution.

  There it was again, the same commotion but this time, closer.

  “I don’t know what that is, but until I can figure out where we are and whether we are in danger, we had better hide. Can you move okay?” Dramble whispered.

  Elly cautiously pushed herself to her feet, bending her body to conform with the camouflage of the bush and waited for signs of pain, but everything seemed willing to function. Momentarily distracted from her questioning, she concentrated on Dramble’s warning instead. “I think so,” she whispered back, scanning the ruins nervously for signs of danger.

  Dramble instinctively held out his hand and Elly willingly took his offering, reassured by his small, but strong grip.

  Feeling Elly’s warm, soft hand in his, a new realisation suddenly struck him: they could communicate physically, too. As he led her away from their exposed position in the charred hillside bush and secreted themselves into the relative safety of the confused ruins further down the slope, Dramble pondered this strange new development with a mix of concern and euphoria, but keeping a watchful eye in the direction the ruckus had come.

  *~*~*~*

  Chapter 7

  Elly limped into the safety of a burnt out structure and with Dramble’s help, lowered herself painfully to the floor. The imposing, crumbling skeleton of four walls stood intact around her, but the roof was missing, giving a clear view to the darkening, smoky-red sky directly above them. The concrete floor had a covering of rubble and fine copper-coloured dust which kicked up easily with any movement, no matter how small or unintentional.

  She’d stumbled and rolled her ankle trying to keep up with Dramble’s brisk pace, picking her way quietly through the ruins and over charred bricks seemingly scattered like colossal black Lego building blocks as far as the eye could see, after a Goliath-sized child’s tantrum had left the scene in angry disarray. Dramble negotiated the ruins with ease, but Elly slowed them down, having to pick her way cautiously over piles of loose bricks and rubble, being conscious to minimise any noise she was making. Placing her foot on top of a block that had looked solid, but the block had crumbled under her weight and sent her crashing heavily to her knees and at the same time, rolling her ankle painfully. Determined not to cry out, she’d covered her mouth with her hand while her face contorted and turned crimson against the pain.

  In an astonishing move and fraught with concern, Dramble had scooped her up and effortlessly carried her across the remaining debris, nimble like a mountain goat, until he found an acceptable place to rest and re-evaluate their situation. The surprises associated with this small boy just kept coming; he hadn’t even flinched under her weight and carried her without signs of strain.

  Dramble peered out through a crumbling opening in one of the walls where a substantial window pane used to be and searched the surrounds, taking stock of potential threats and signs of movement. While he was distracted, Elly studied his back in wonder and puzzled over her strange new companion, working up to a storm of questions in her mind but meticulously picking her time to unload her concern and curiosity. Elly leaned her back cautiously against the blackened wall, the pain from her fall muffled by whimpering gasps. As she reached down to inspect her injured ankle, it was evident the damaged limb was beginning to swell and for the short term at least, her rock hopping jaunts had come to an abrupt end.

  “Let me take a look at that,” Dramble stooped beside her as she watched him gently prise the runner from her foot and expose an angry black bruise. He stretched her foot as far as he dare until Elly winced in pain, forcing him to abandon any further manipulation. “It’s not broken, but we’ll have to give it some time to heal. I think we’re relatively safe here for the moment.”

  Elly shivered involuntarily; the insipid red sun was setting swiftly and the chill was intensifying dramatically. “I’m cold!” she whispered frailly, feeling the wall and the concrete floor stealing her body heat while the pain in her foot exaggerated her discomfort.

  Without thinking, Dramble positioned himself beside Elly sitting in the growing darkness, kicking rubble from his path in the process and stretched out his feet with his back against the wall; then once he had settled, he patted the top of his leg with his hand. “Here, use my leg as a pillow.”

  Elly stared at the boy with a questioning gaze; his grey eyes were soft with concern and displayed a maturity that far outweighed his size. She wondered if somehow this small person was as familiar to her as he claimed and in a strange kind of way, she felt an odd sense of comfort in his presence.

  Another shuddering chill trembled through her body and finally convinced Elly to trust his intentions; she stretched out across the concrete floor and self-consciously lay her cheek on his leg, swiping her blonde locks from tangling around her face in the same instance. Awkward uneasiness soon gave way to an electric warmth that tingled up and down her body and the chill drained away. Even her foot became less painful.

  Elly felt the gentle touch of the small boy stroking her hair, but even this seemed natural and loving, not threatening and violating. Soon her eyes began to close under the weight of exhaustion and Dramble’s gentle caress, drifting contentedly into a deep sleep as if she lay in the security of her own bed.

  *~*~*~*

  Soft mist swirled and parted, gently stirred by an unseen hand in the warm morning sunshine, while small honeyeaters chimed and darted above her head and teased her with their call, eager for her to follow their beckoning play. A mellow rumble echoed in the distance and rolled off the sheer valley walls, accentuating and drawing her attention to the lonely, meandering path with its low growl.

  Elly gazed excitedly at the scene unfolding in front of her and before long, she recognised the green velvet carpet of rainforest surrounding her on all sides. A gentle breeze blew from somewhere and then impish laughter giggled across the swaying, long stemmed flowers. Blues and pinks collided with yellows, greens and lilacs, all happily tittering and tantalising Elly’s heart with joy.

  She gazed delightedly around the panorama and searched the swaying colour, hoping to catch a glimpse of the green-eyed young man who had enchanted her with the promise of romance. Her eyes pursued the path like the steady beam from a lighthouse, the place where she had last seen the enchanting apparition. At their last brief encounter, time had been against them and they were parted before they could touch, leaving her with an overwhelming ache in her heart.

  From out of nowhere, a gentle drizzle fell from the heights above her. She closed her eyes and lifted her head to the sky allowing the soothing raindrops to caress her face, spill down over her lips and trickle onto her tongue. Its taste, sweeter than honey, lighting her senses into a fury of passion unlocked her feet in an elegant pirouette, then dancing and leaping with pleasure and sending her long blonde hair cascading and shining about her like icy velvet, while her white gown twirled about her graceful figure in an appreciative response. The flowers giggled louder and seemed to be applauding her giddying dance.

  Then at last a murmur, a soft, teasing tone tugging at her heart strings and the moment she had dreamed and ached for, whispering her name and drifting across the valley like fine expensive perfume but laced with such tenderness and emotion.

  Elly... come to me, pretty lady, the man whispered, almost despairing.

  Elly searched frantically for the voice and then her gaze fell upon the young man standing
in the middle of the path, one hand outstretched to her, beckoning her nearer with a huge perfect single rose, singing a haunting love song in his other hand. His green eyes brilliant like erupting suns, mesmerising her, drawing her closer and closer, her heart burning within her chest. Her floating steps were frantic trying to get to his side but she couldn’t feel the ground under her feet; instead, drifting like a mirage ever closer to the focus of her desire.

  Elly held out her hand to the apparition and suddenly they touched, igniting the atmosphere and sparking like lightning cascading through all the colours of the rainbow around them. He drew her, stunned by surging electric passion and hypnotised by his deep green eyes floating ever closer, unable and not wanting to resist the magnetic pull into his waiting embrace.

  Closer and closer until his sweet, hot breath teased her skin, sending a blissful shiver prickling through her body and feeling like her heart was going to burst.

  Then in mind-numbing expectation, her emotions melted, erupting in a cascading explosion of romance and floating in a euphoric cloud as the warmth and softness of his kiss on her lips stole the breath from her lungs.

  “Elly...! Elly...! Wake up, girl, I think we’ve got visitors,” Dramble’s frantic whispered voice broke into the darkness, shaking her awake and shocking her out of her pleasurable encounter.

  It took a while for Elly to refocus and come to terms with her surrounds, her heart still pounding and her body tingling from her romantic rendezvous with her dream man. A huge sigh filled the quiet, causing Dramble to stare at Elly’s silhouetted shape in concern, thinking she had woken in pain.

  “I just had the most delightful dream,” Elly confessed, sighing again and unconcerned about the potential threat Dramble was concentrating on.

  Dramble couldn’t see the euphoric smile on Elly’s face in the dark, but he could hear the intense sighs and feel the heat radiating from her face. “The green-eyed man,” Dramble whispered quietly and drawing a shocked gasp from Elly.