The Garden of Eve by K L Going

Author:K L Going [Going, K L]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780152059866
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Chapter Eighteen

Into the Magic

The world grew suddenly strange and woozy.

One moment Alex was right in front of her, and the next moment he was gone. Evie tried to think clearly, but her head was spinning. All she could see was the tree swirling by in streaks of brown bark, green leaves, white petals, and red apples. The one thing that stayed in focus was a single brilliant apple hanging off a tree branch just beyond her arm’s reach. Evie walked toward it.

“Alex?” she called, but there was no answer.

He’d gone ahead without her.

Evie took a deep breath. Behind her the wind rippled through Father’s orchard, as if it were calling her back, but ahead of her the apple swayed back and forth.

She had to know.

Evie reached out and plucked the apple from the branch and instantly the tree fell back, a distant blur at the end of a swirling tunnel of petals. Evie held the fruit tight to her lips, and took a step forward into the mirage. She bit into the tart skin, the sweet juice trickling down her throat. Then before she could take a breath, she was tumbling from a height so far up she knew she would fall for a very long time.

At last, it stopped.

The relief was so great she felt as if she had fallen into a very peaceful sleep. Every muscle relaxed and her eyes, which had been squeezed shut, were now gently closed. She couldn’t say how long it was before she breathed again. Was she waking up from a long sleep? Had it been minutes or hours?

When she opened her eyes, Evie gasped. She was still in the orchard, but all around her the apple trees were in bloom. Not just her tree, but all of them. She was lying on a bed of moss surrounded by hundreds of flowers and a sweeping blue sky above. The grass was lush and green and plants grew everywhere, weaving in and out of the rows of trees.

Where was she?

Evie stood up. The warmth caressed her skin and she breathed deeply of the perfumed air. She turned in a circle, taking everything in.

“Mom?” she called, searching for the spot where her mom would dash out with hugs and kisses. But it was Alex who jumped from a cluster of sunflowers.

“Now aren’t you glad I ate that apple?” he crowed, hands on his hips. He took off the heavy black coat he’d worn every day since she’d met him and threw it on the ground. Evie peeled off her coat, too, and dropped it in a heap next to his.

“Have you seen my mom?” she asked, but Alex shook his head.

“Not yet,” he said as he spotted an apple in the tall grass. He chased after it, kicking it around the tree, then straight through the two tallest sunflowers.

“Goal!”

He raised both hands high, and his eyes sparkled in the sun.

“It’s perfect here!” Alex said, reaching down to pluck another apple. He tossed it to Evie and she grabbed it without thinking.

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