“Thank the Reaper! He’s alive!”
Many hands were touching me, and when my eyes focused, I was lying on the couch in my own living room, covered in my mama’s knitted blankets and surrounded by people. The normal lights illuminating my house seemed brighter than usual. The windows were darker than they should have been.
How did I get home? I thought, my heart leaping in my chest. It’s only been five seconds.
Willow was right beside me, crushing my hand in his, eyes puffy with tears. Sharp and Piranha stood behind him, faces pale with terror.
“What’s…happening?” My eyes struggled to adjust. The bizarre lights I had seen were burned into my retinas. Everything was fuzzy. The other three people in the room came into focus. My mothers were in a tight embrace by the fireplace near a man so tall he craned his neck to stand: Sharp’s father, Dr. Glass Of-the-City.
“Move aside,” he commanded. “I should talk to him first.”
They all complied except for Willow, who tightened his grip and put his face close enough for me to feel his breath. It was a rare sight to see him without a smile.
“This was all my fault,” he whispered, warm tears soaking into my shirt. “I should have never involved you. I’m sorry Badger. I’m so, so sorry.”
Glass pulled him away by the collar before I could respond. The blurry edges of my vision started to sharpen.
“It’s going to be okay. Take a deep breath and look at me.” He was kneeling, and there was no anger in his voice. I was transported back to a time in my youth when I had sliced my hand open on a thorny branch and thought I might die. His face was the same now as when he cleaned the blood and wrapped the cut with a bandage.
“Tell me how you feel, Badger. What do you remember?”
The doctor and his daughter were similar looking. She inherited his shiny dark hair, smooth skin, and impressive stature. Dusk-gray eyes and delicate features masked an intense disposition.
My voice rasped, thick with sleep and dehydration. “All I remember was… I ate the Fruit.”
Everyone exchanged concerned glances, including my mothers. Mama Puma’s plump face was flushed from crying. Mama Robin also looked distressed, but I saw anger in her dark eyes. This wouldn’t be the first time I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t have, but it was the first time I’d caused them real fear.
Glass turned to Willow, who shrunk at his gaze. “Alright kid. You can tell him what happened.”
My friend sniffled, wringing his hands in a way that looked painful. “It’s late now, Badge. You’ve been unconscious for half the day.”
My words caught in my throat. That couldn’t be right. I had counted to five, just like I promised. One look at Puma’s face convinced me to keep the sensation of death to myself.
“But…how?”
This question made Mama Robin lose her cool, and before I knew it, I’d been slapped upside the head.
“You stupid boy.”
My parents had never once hit me. They weren’t the kind to scold me in front of others either, so I knew I’d made a truly serious mistake. It didn’t hurt, not even a little bit, but a cascade of tears fell from my eyes.
“I-I’m sorry Mama,” I stuttered. “I-I didn’t think anything would happen.”
She wiped away her own budding tears and touched the pouf of curly hair on my head. “Do you not remember what I told you, dum-dum? About the Wild Fruit? I told you to never eat it.”
A memory floated to the surface, hazy and indistinct. My parents advised me not to do many things, but I wasn’t always the best listener.
“Yes, I remember now,” I mumbled through my dry paper mouth. “But…I’m not Of-the-Wilds.”
Despite the streaks on Mama Puma’s freckled face, she looked ready to smack me herself. “Except you are Of-the-Wilds.”
I blinked stupidly, unable to muster a response. She pinched the top of her nose and took a deep, irritated breath. “I’m talking about your birth father. His name is Pyrite Of-the-Wilds.”
I racked my memory for this jarring fact. “I remember you said Pyrite left to live in the Wilds after I was born, that’s all.”
“That’s right,” Mama Robin chimed in. “He went back to the Wilds because that’s where he was from.”
I looked at the floor, lost for words. I knew next to nothing about the man, simply because I never cared to ask. He was an old friend of my mothers who helped them when they couldn’t have a child of their own.
Willow’s face was also flushed with shame. He choked down a sob and continued the story. “After you disappeared, we counted to five… but you didn’t return. I started to yell because I thought you were messing with us. But then…”
Piranha’s catlike face was uncharacteristically serious, pupils thin and focused. “But then we checked where you were standing, and there was nothing! Willow started to cry and you still didn’t reappear, so we knew something was wrong.”
Sharp’s voice was thick with apology. She looked small and vulnerable without her armor plating. “We looked around the clearing for half an hour before I left to get my dad. By the time I returned you were visible but unconscious. Your heart was beating but…we couldn’t wake you up.”
She explained how they dragged my lifeless body to Glass’s clinic. Despite being unable to revive me, he assumed I’d gain consciousness in the next few hours, and insisted they bring me home and tell the truth. I was clutching my stomach by the time the story was over, imagining with clarity how each of them felt during that time: guilt, fear, frustration, anger. How could I have been so stupid?
“I-I’m sorry,” I stuttered. “I can’t believe I made such a big mistake…”
“No, it’s my fault!” blurted Willow. “I’m the one–”
“Forget it!” I snapped. “I don’t do things just because you tell me to. I should have known better.”
Glass stood to his full height. Even craning his neck, he was an intimidating presence, deep voice drenched in disappointment. “As far as I see, all of you are to blame. Wild Fruit can have serious consequences for those with Wild blood, so you’re lucky Badger is even here at all.”
This statement created a regretful silence, cut only by Willow’s pitiful sniffling. Glass made us stew in it for a moment before continuing. “I trust that next time you do something reckless and illegal, you’ll take a little more time thinking it through, right?”
“Right,” the four of us said in grim unison.
