Chapter Two - Lines Crossed

The same dinner, every single night. It was such a boring meal, too. But it was all Tilly's parents wanted to cook. Aventurine salad topped with barite seeds, amegreen grapes and loamy peaches, with plain old ice water.

It was a decent dinner, enough to fill them up for the night, but it was strange because it was the same thing she took for lunch to school, too. Tilly had actually been adopted, with her older brother Thomas. Helena, her "mom", was a violet, a blind one in fact. Her vision stems were cut when she was younger, for reasons not yet known, she prefers to keep that a secret. Her "father" Alex was a sunflower, who worked with the Harvest Program, which also included the Hibiscus Hall, where images of deceased loved ones are framed and hanged, never to be forgotten for the work they put into the towns.

Tilly never spoke up at the table. There was nothing she wanted say, because her "parents" would never understand a single word she said, as if the didn't speak the same language. I assure you, they did, but Helena took things the wrong way, and Alex liked to talk and talk about his childhood, never seeming to realize how completely different it was compared to Thomas and Tilly’s. “How was Thorn training today, Tommy?” Helena asked. Tilly sat straight up, giving her “mom” a stare. One thing you NEED to know about Thomas is: He dislikes nothing more than to be called “Tommy”. To him, it felt like a name to give to a cabbage. It didn’t feel as noble and assuring as “Thomas”. For years, they reminded the woman of his name-his TRUE name, yet she never seemed to hold the thought in place.

Their “dad” shuffled in his seat uncomfortably at the stares Tilly gave them, the stare that no one wanted to be given, but had been. She sat back and looked at her brother, who was staring at his plate, visually thinking. “It was good. I learned to build burr fences.” He replied, continuing to eat. Helena smiled, Alex sighed heavily with relief, and Tilly sat back and relaxed her muscles, letting the stare go. “Well, Matilda, aren’t you going to tell us about your day at school?” “Dad” said. Tilly shook her head. It was no use, they would only dismiss her complaints for laziness, though neither of them made it past the 9th grade. Being troublemakers (Alex) and stress balls (Helena) in school is what made them want to drop out.

Obviously, school wasn’t even an option for the Withers. They never seemed to have the budget for a school, but there is one thing they learned at a very young age: the Witharian language. *Yâ, Bé, Chee, Dè, Ey, Fah,* and so on. Those were the Witharian ABC’s, and the only important thing they learned except for one rule: Never go outside the barrier ( Well, unless you were Mabel, of course).

Speaking of which, let me get you up to speed with her, now that Tilly is busy cleaning the table…

There is a Witharian legend saying that if a regular plant and Wither fell in love, it automatically mean the start of something great in village’s future, but also a war that must be won in order to see that future. Of course, it’s just a silly story, one that Mabel most certainly did not believe. But she did often bring herself to wonder: What is it like to fall in love?

It was mid spring for the present, and the Choosing Ceremony was less than 2 weeks away. And, as you may recall, Mabel had received an invitation from Mayor Duneberry himself! (Which was a good and a bad thing all in one) It was very good because Mabel would be representing the Witharians in the ceremony, even though she wasn't allowed to decide her fate. Maybe she could even convince more folks to think about changing the separation law, who knows. But it was a bad thing also, because Mayor Duneberry was a sneaky fellow, throwing in a couple of insulting remarks about Eithers in every conversation. He often ignored Mabel and "mistook" her for a waitress, but she knew it was no mistake.

Even so, Mabel was picking out clothes, looking for the best thing to wear to a ceremony, but that's not much when you live as a Wither. With only a shard of glass as the only mirror, and a piles of unfitting clothes, she had to make the most of the situation and improvise. After all, she *was* formally invited by the mayor himself, though it all still seemed suspicious to her. Why would anyone want a Wilted\* girl to attend a special ceremony that she couldn't even take part in? Mabel promised herself that she would stay alert in case things went upside down and turned around during the event.

There were three knocks on the bedroom door. "You can come in, Dad." She knew it was her dad because she was an only child, and her father had always done three special knocks to let her know it was him. The door creaked open slowly and a head peeked through the crack. "Hey Mabel, you almost done?" He asked. "Yep, almost. I have nothing to wear today, though." Charlie walked in and took a look inside of her closet. "Why don't you wear your mother's blue dress? The silkworms made it themselves, just special for her when she was your age." Mabel laughed to herself, remembering how many times her father told this story. "Alright, I'll try it on. It probably won't fit, though." She walked to her mother's old wardrobe on the other side of the house in a different room, and it was far away from all of the other closets because that's where all her special dresses were.

I suppose I never told you exactly how Mabel's mother died, did I? Though that might be a story for another time, I will give you details and snippits of what Elora was like, With three other siblings, two of the most beautiful eyes you'd have ever seen, and one big heart made of gold, this woman cared about everything and everyone, and though that might seem stressful, she handled it perfectly well, because that's the kind of person she was. Elora and her family had gone on vacation on year to the Snapdragon Festival. It was there that she had met Charlie, a young man helplessy losing every festival game and his money. Knowing she could help him out, she walked over and helped him complete the game and win a prize. (Yes I know, not exactly romantic)

Now I don't remember exactly remember what the prize was, but it big and colorful. Maybe a ladybug plushie, maybe a caterpillar one. The point is, Charlie ultimately thought that prize was some kind of declaration of love, so he began courting her for at least the next 3 years or so, which didn't backfire as horribly as everyone thought it would. Remember, Charlie was incapable of lying for anything, so everything that came out of his mouth was the truth, which caused him to open up a little more than what would make him comfortable. But eventually, all that courting and gifts and compliments and dates led to their marriage.

And you know the rest. They had a child. Named her Mabel Gemadocce Acker. Helped her get through life without much money, no schools, and nothing to teach her except the WItharian ABC's and the most important rule she will ever have in her life. Her mom's words exactly were "You can be as rich as the richest person can be, you can be as successful as the most hardworking perosn in the world, and you can fall in love with as many people as you humanly can, but you will never sleep at night in life without honestly answering this one question: 'Does all of this truly make me feel whole?' " It should sound familiar because it mostly pertains to the world system around us.

Well enough sorrow and truths for a while, let's agree to keep things friendly! (Speaking of which, do you remember how I mentioned none of the children in the village were Mabel's friends? I exaggerated just a little. She did have friends, just none her age. I'd like to introduce to you, the butterfly milkweed triplets! Jade, Lark and Athena Campbell are sisters who defenitley spark your interest, and make you wonder "why in the world is Mabel friends with them?"

Let me make this short and sweet for you:

Athena is shy and quiet most of the time, but nice to be around! Lark likes to do....unspeakable acts to keep the village "alive", but I'm very sure that felonies don't do anyone any good. She's not a bad kid, just don't encourage her to do anything in life ever, thats all. Oh, and Jade loves to make bucket lists and is very good at keeping promises and secrets. She's also very good at jumping high. Nothing too special, just random things to tell them apart. But the reason why I assumed you would be questioning their friendship with Mabel is becuase they have an uncontrolable attachtment to pests.)

Now let's go back to Tlly (yes it's overwhelming, get used to it, alright?).

Let me ask a quick question to those who are reading right now: Have you ever dreamt about a person, not knowing who they are or what they're purpose in the dream is, but you feel immediatly connected to them? Well that's how TIlly felt when she had that dreaded dream again, except this time more vivid.

A girl walked up to her, wearing rags and dirty shoes, something a Wither would wear. Though, the girl didn't look like one, at least not how Tilly had been described to. "Matilda....." She cocked her head to the side waiting for something. "How do you know my name? Are you a stalker? Well, if it's alright with you, I'd prefer to be called Tilly, please." Tilly replied. The girl threw her head back and laughed. "Does the name Matilda offend you?" Tilly sighed. "No, but it's not exactly rocket science. Just. Tilly. Please and thank you."

The girl laughed again. "Do you hear that noise outside?" Tilly strained her ears, but she just barely caught the sound of rain. *Rain again, huh? My dreams never cease to dissapoint me.* "Yes I hear it, why? Oh and do you have a name? You already know mine for some reason." The girl smiled a bit. "My name does not matter, but I know someone's name who does." Tilly decided to take a moment to care about the girl's looks. She had perriwinkle hair that was mostly pulled up. The rest of the hair was hanging in a sort of bangs like manner. "That rain....does it sound familiar to you?" Tilly shook her head. "What in the world are you talking about, lady?" The girl rolled her eyes. "Think Tilly....Because if you look around, this is the place where you will meet your your fate,"

"Is my fate to be soaked in the mid-April to early May rain, with nothing but a pitch black room to go to? Sounds pleasant, is that all you wanted to tell me?" The girl start walking closer and closer."I will tell you my name and give you a riddle, If you figure out the riddle all with be revealed, and you won't have to see this dream again." Tilly pondered, wondering how her dreams had advanced so far to be able to negotiate with her mind. "Alright fine, I need something to do with my life anyways, school doesn't seem to help with anything." The girl chuckled, finding Tilly amusing.

"My name is Anais, my last name is not important. And now for the riddle: 'A man is found sitting behind his desk in his office with a mask on his face. No one minds the mask, because they all follow him, never seeing his face. A brave girl who could see his face without the mask walks into the office and leaves the door wide open. When she comes back out, the man is no longer wearing his mask, but he is also gone. Eventually the people all went home. How did the girl get the man's followers to see his face?"

Tilly's eyes widened. "How am I supposed to get the answer to that?" The girl blew the hair away from her eye. "You'll get it when you've put what you already know aside. With that said, it's about time for you to wake up. It was nice to meet you TIlly." She waved goodbye, thought Tilly did not wave back. She didn't really care for waving goodbye.

Her eyes opened, and her body shot up in surprise. Her one and only thought was, *"What a boring dream."* She had hoped for more action, yet that riddle was still ringing in her head. Probably just her mind playing tricks on her, right? Just another weird dream. There was a knock on the door. Before she could say "come in", Thomas opened the door. "Thomas! Did we not just talk about rule 13 yesterday?! Wait until I finsh saying COME IN!" He raised his hands apologetically. "It won't happen again, but you need to come see this! Anais Duneberry Is riding through town with her father, and I need you to teach me how to make a move on her!"

*Anais?!*