The Mortals, Chapter 3, Desire

Authors note: I really apologize for how long it took. I am going to be honest here and say that I forgot. Avoids flying rocks And no, nothing profoundly explicit in this chapter. Regardless of Desires obvious role, I find it cheapens my work.

And contrary to what Morgan says, Peter is not just sick, he is insane, she just thinks of him as sick. Don't ask what made him insane, that may be revealed later. wink Sorry it is so short. Read on

Morgan lay flat out on her bed, exhausted but too tired to sleep. The tired that overcame her could partially be attributed to a full and busy day at work, but that was just another excuse. She knew the real reason.

She had visited Peter again that afternoon. She has grasped his hand and kissed him and told him for the umpteenth time that everything would be okay. For the umpteenth time, he stared back at her with blank eyes.

She clung to these memories, no matter how terrible they where. She told herself that they would make her happier when Peter got better. She refused to imagine him staying sick.

Slowly but surely her eyelids grew heavy. Just before nodding off, she curled up next to a large teddy bear, their first anniversary gift.

There it was, the tree again. Leafs shaped like hearts and branches like arms, and each drop of dew like a star. A small heart was carved into the trunk near the bottom.

Morgan

Peter

A bird sang in a top branch, a melody so beautiful. In a leaf reflected the smiling face of a yellow eyed someone.

And look, there were people in the tree. A man and a woman. One had red-brown hair and what were once both green eyes. The other with hair the color of chocolate and eyes like an ocean. Her long, pale, spider-like fingers were entwined with his, his fingernails chewed as far as they would go.

And the two were kissing, affectionately, passionately, as if they had been doing this for a long time, and it would never get boring. They separated, looked at each others eyes for a moment, and then leaned back in.

She woke up crying. That one dream could never come true again.