From the sky I had no idea where to
go. The trees obscured almost everything. I hopped off my cloud next to a
stream about six feet across.
"Hello?" I ventured. The
woods didn't respond, and muffled my voice. Moments later a head surfaced from the
stream.
"You're early," Jasmine
said.
I peered into the stream. “How deep
is that? I thought it was a couple of feet.”
“It is much deeper than that. This
is a rare river that is much deeper than its width.”
“Huh. Ain’t that something. So,
where do we go from here?”
“If you are feeling brave, you can
swim with me. If not, simply follow the river’s course to its source, though it
is a lengthy and arduous journey on foot.
I gave her my smug smile and hopped
back on my cloud board. “I don’t go anywhere on foot if I don’t need to.” I
wouldn’t be able to summon much wind to propel me, but it beat hoofing it
through the tangled underbrush.
Jasmine smiled, “As you wish.”
There was something about her smile, though, that said I was missing out on
something, like an inside joke.
My board made a leisurely pace
around ten miles an hour floating above the stream. Jasmine and I made chit
chat, me lying on my board while she bobbed in the water.
After a few minutes she made the
invitation again. Are you sure you
don’t want to swim with me?” She rolled over, floating on her back, and I
finally got the joke.
She wasn’t wearing any clothes.
I dropped off my board, falling into
the water.