I sailed through the air, like one lost in time. The scene stretched before me and I hung, suspended in mid-air above the paper-thin platform that was my only barrier between myself and an accelerated plunge down to an early demise.

I wasn't so shortsighted to imagine that the green layer would hold me upright, again. I saw the events that were about to unfold, so clearly, and I had hopes that I could make the most of the opportunities, but it was a slim window of opportunity to capitalize on; even with the most generous of estimates.

My toes met the surface of leaves, and I prepared to meet my destiny, no matter what befell me.

Unarmored, untethered, unequipped, I felt as the momentum of my desperate leap pushed the weight up into my heels, and knew that I only had fractions of a second to tuck into a roll that would spread out my weight again; for surely there was little chance of me finding purchase at any point along the fathoms of open air between the canopy and ground.

If I could only react with sufficient speed, and execute the motions necessary at the exact timing required; if only I managed to leap far enough to span the distance between one safe patch and another in that single bound; if I had only acted within the exact window of time that the lemurs were far enough away, and the primates weren't close enough; then I might have had enough time to readjust to the alarming sensation of sinking that I felt instead of the spongy resistance that was expected.

My toes pushed right through the litter on the top of the veil, and punched right through to the other side; snapping several impeding vines along the way that were to be my lifeline.

I heard the slither as several yards of tightly knitted liana and kudzu unspooled from the intricate quilt of branch and bush under the inordinate pressure I had exerted upon it. My inertia was only barely slowed, until my legs sank up to my hips in the wisteria.

My groin and undercarriage crashed into the remaining impediments, and soon those, too, failed under the strain of my accelerated bulk. A few more unsettling snapping noises later, and I was completely loosed to the whims of the gravitational pull of earth.

There was nothing between me, and the long way down.

I smiled, as a knowing peace washed over me. 'All according to plan.'

I wasn't so shortsighted to imagine that the green layer would hold me upright, after all. I quickly adopted a tripod-like stance, with two of my legs, and an arm outstretched before me—with the other trailing behind, holding fast onto the package that I had risked my very life in order to procure—as I sailed through the air directly toward the encroaching wall of rough bark, that was my true target.

With a fiery squeal, I streaked through the air. 'No, no, no, not that one,' I listed, searching desperately for any sort of hold that I could slip my fingers into, because I only had seconds to find it in the skylight I had punched through the second night sky, before my own shadow made its surface unreadable in the evening gloom.

'Come on, come on, come on,' I twisted, breathlessly, holding my hand up against every possible target, in rapid succession, and shouted "There!" before immediately slamming into the broad side of the tree; with enough force to make a lesser man lose consciousness.

I wrapped my legs around the wash basin sized circumference of the tree, to find it was just barely slender enough for me to reach about half-way around its width.

I gripped its surface with every bit of force that my exhausted, emaciated young body could muster, and slid for another foot, or so, before thankfully, the hold I had found at the final instant locked into place, and held fast.

My forearms ached in a way that signaled a few new tears, and scratches, and my wrist was held in such an oblique, unnatural position that it looked like it might be pulled out of socket, but nothing felt broken. The important thing was that I was stationary, and the fruits had been salvaged.

I breathed heavily, as my heart raced in my chest, and the adrenaline rush that I was experiencing slowly petered off. I heard a small voice call out from a few feet below.

"Zozi?" Rilah offered, making me immediately guilty for pushing her to aggravate her condition by worrying about me again, "Are you okay? I was about to come back for you."

"I-I'm alright, princess! Sorry, I kept you waiting. I thought you might need some refreshments."

She giggled, "That's just like you. Only a boy would risk his life to grab fruits at a time like this. Hurry down, before things get worse."

Above, the howler monkeys continued their excited calls, as their quarry had seemingly vanished without a trace. They peered down the hole, and faced one another, but I didn't care less. They were no longer a threat to me, as they're not the type of creature to ever have need of a land below the false sky.

She was right, after all. My actions today have been far, and away, beyond the bounds of the word "reckless." It's not her fault for stating the obvious, but still, a little appreciation for the lengths I had gone to in order to make her life a little easier would be nice.

I sighed, then tucked the strap into my mouth, making sure not to accidentally tip the "bag" and spill any food onto the earth below. This was to be the best diving meal ever eaten in the history of the world, after what I had gone through. I wouldn't accept any mistakes.

Then, grabbing a perch with my one good hand, I was finally able to let loose of the cruel wedge that was causing me so much discomfort, and flex my fingers. Yeah, it was definitely going to be sore for a while.

I looked at the surrounding bark for more signs of hand placements, and continued to flex and shake the stinging stiffness from my skinned up hand; spraying flecks of blood, uncaring, on the face of the wall of cork before me, and my bare chest.

It was in that moment of calm stillness that I felt it.

A slight tremor ran through the seemingly imperturbable bluestriker, and I looked above to watch in horror as a seemingly endless stream of small flying things came pouring out from the hole that I had torn in the canopy floor.

"What the five is that?!" I screamed, as the undulating swarm of yellow rapidly gathered at the edges of the portal, almost immediately blocking out the light with their volume.

Rilah looked up, and answered with a look that was nothing short of bright joy and fascination at the visage. "Wow! I can't believe I finally get to see them swarm in person!"

I quickly began to shimmy down, figuring out that break time was finally over because of the encroaching mass of flapping creatures. "I'm glad you're happy, but could you do me the favor of sharing what you know about 'them' and their 'swarm?'"

She only laughed, dismissively. "Oh, don't be so worried all the time. Gutterflies only swarm because they're attracted to the sap of the vines in the canopy. They're herbivores, like bats."

I didn't slow my pace down, much, but I did release a breath that I hadn't realized I was holding. "That's a relief. I thought they were gonna eat me!" I said, watching the flock of leathery wings slowly descend toward me.

"Uh... wait a minute," Rilah chuckled, nervously. "I... They shouldn't be coming this far away from the canopy. Zoel?"

She said my name like my abba might when she found the remains of an empty berry basket in my room. "Y-yes?" I replied, cautiously.

"What kind of fruits did you pick?" I went cold.

A solitary member of the wild throng fluttered its way down past my face on leathery, bright aureolin wings, with tips of sharp-looking claws on the edges, framing a shriveled wrinkly mess of a face with the spear-like nose of a goblin shark. "I don't know what they're called, why...?" I asked, worrisome with the sudden change in inquiry.

"Because the only reason they might ever have any reason to follow somebody out of the canopy, is if they smelled the one thing that they like more than sap."

I tried to wave it off, and it swooped angrily at my backside, where the pack is. "And what's that?" I asked, although I already knew the answer.

"A red berry with little black spots called a vilpo pod, which anyone knows you should stay far away from."

Of course it's the berries.

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