When There Is Nothing Left But Love (Ashton And Scarlett)

“Let’s go that way!” Nora called to us. She spotted Tabitha and Laurel just climbing out of the hole. “What’s up, you two? If you’ve had a good rest, let’s move on!”

The two women nodded as they dusted the dirt and grime off their wrinkly clothes. They glanced at Tessa, who was still immersed in her prayers. Tabitha mumbled, “She’s so pious. Do you think God with really bless her?”

Nora shrugged. “Let’s go!”

The forest was rather humid in the morning. The soil had become loose. One could hear the soft crunching of the earth just by stepping on it.

“Ah!” Laurel screamed. Then, she squatted on the spot she had previously stepped on and began to scrape at the ground.

Very soon, we saw what had been hiding underneath the earth. It was a cluster of yellowish-white fungi. Some of them had been crushed under her feet.

Only a few short and stout ones were spared.

“Mushrooms!” Tessa, who had been reciting her prayers the whole time, promptly came forward and started digging up the plants from under the fertile soil. She wiped the dirt off and began to swallow them a few pieces at a time.

Laurel, looking equal parts terrified and worried, wondered, “Do we… eat them raw? Just like that?”

Tabitha turned around and, indeed, managed to find other mushrooms of the same variety under some rotten leaves.

She passed some of them to us. “Yes, this kind of mushrooms can be eaten raw. There used to be plenty at my place and we did this all the time. Sure, they won’t satisfy our hunger, but it’ll have to do for now. Let’s eat!”

They dug in. The rest of us, having barely eaten anything for a day, followed suit.

mind. “Are you sure we won’t have any hallucinations after eating these? Once, I watched the news about

know which ones to eat and which ones to avoid, basically you won’t have any

soil. She turned around

nodded. “Sure, but we’ll need to cook them.

have made ourselves a feast supplied by Mother Nature herself,” Nora sighed as she stuffed more mushrooms into

everyone else to look towards her, surprise hanging on our

decided to

pale, her body stiffened, as

simultaneously. There was a tiny green snake, about fifty centimetres in length,

not have noticed it if we had not been paying attention. The snake spat

is venomous. We have to be careful!” Tabitha yelled, her

There was a branch that must have been snapped in half by the wind. One of

that ugly thing! Ah, it’s giving me goosebumps!” Nora stood close to me. Driven by anxiety and fright,

comfort her, but I was scared too.

we run now?” Nora

late!” Tessa said, her voice trembling. “This

can’t just

shaking uncontrollably, her face

dared to glare at the reptile hiding among the leaves with a wicked glint in

the snake could latch onto her and sink its