Mulder quickly lost sight of the bee but followed its direction, a straight line through a wall of leaves. In long strides he dived into the green that was thick and dense but soft and harmless, keeping shouting Scully's name in a frantic rhythm.
After a couple of minutes that felt like an hour for his panicked heart, he burst into a small clearing, inhabited by hundreds of stunning flowers displaying their surreal beauty all over the place, from the ground to his head's height.
In the middle of this fairytale decor stood his Disney princess, standing still in front of the most stunning flowering bush, as mesmerized by one huge efflorescence exhibiting its jewels one foot from Scully's eyes.
"Scully?" Mulder softly asked, as he had stopped a dozen steps from her.
She didn't move.
Mulder was confused. He had appeared on her left side, at least she should have perceived his movements in her peripheral vision if not hearing him. Yet, not wanting to startle her he moved forward slowly, whispering her name in a constant flow of tenderness.
Then, arriving at arm's reach, he delicately put his hand on her left shoulder.
"Scully? It's me, Mulder," he said, squeezing her upper arm.
His touch, or maybe his so familiar expression, woke her up from whatever deep reverie she was in. She turned her head around and stared at him, an unusual beatific smile on her face.
"Mulder?" she simply said, waiting for an answer.
"Scully, are you okay?" Mulder could only ask right now.
"Yes, I'm fine," she replied.
Mulder was troubled but didn't want to show it, having a feeling he had to treat his Sleeping Beauty as delicately as the flowers surrounding them. Then, as he was pondering which question he would ask first among the dozens rushing in his mind, Scully became talkative.
"Mulder, look at this flower," pointing at the one that had hypnotized her. "There's just such wonders and oddities in it that I don't know where to start. Those pistils… it's just like there's a mix of different species in a single one."
Her tone was joyful and excited, like all those times she had stumbled into scientific wonders.
"But -" Mulder could only say.
"And that's funny because there weren't any insects foraging in. None in this flower and the other ones, all around, which is really odd. And then, all of a sudden, one single bee plunged into the one I was observing. And you came in, just after… Look, here it is, gathering pollen."
"Scully… Can we just only get back to the car? We're both tired and we need to reach our destination."
"We're not in such a hurry, Mulder. Maybe I could take some samples…"
Realizing it would be worthless to argue, Mulder grabbed Scully's hand and pulled her out of the clearing, dragging her back to the car in resolute steps.
When seeing the car and the miserable track they have to continue following, Scully seemed to regain common sense. She glanced at her wrist watch, and realized how much time had passed.
"Mulder, what happened? Have we lost time?" Scully asked, confused.
"I don't know Scully, you tell me. Maybe you were just lost in your scientific mind. Or, maybe there were strange forces at work. Look, we have to move forward. But, from now on, we should be cautious and on our guard. I don't want to stumble into Jurassic Park, I don't like T-Rexes."
Scully nodded, pensive.
"Well, because of the geography, I'd say The Lost World," she said.
Mulder stared at Scully. She was now calm and unsettled, her natural self and smile back.
"I don't like pterodactyls either, Scully," Mulder concluded, opening the car door.