The Drifting by L. Filloon Read Free Book Online Page A

in general.
    Sema places her fork down and dabs at her mouth with a napkin.  “No, it’s not.  I thought you would feel more comfortable in an environment that you’re familiar with.” 
    “Then you really don’t know much about me,” I counter.  “I don’t like lies, even one as nice as this.”
    Sema nods and the room around me slowly begin to melt away.  It starts with the kitchen table, the plates, glasses and the bouquet of flowers, the entire kitchen.  In the living room , the bookcases, sofa, coffee table and fireplace all disappear before my eyes.  I turn around to look at the door to the room and find a solid wall of wood with no entry to the area where I slept.  I now find myself sitting in an open room, the walls of the tree that we’re in are light and a sweet fragrance emits from it.  The table we’re sitting at is part of the tree’s floor and the seats are wood stumps, also a part of the wood floor.  The cooking area is a series of blocks of wood with one of them glowing like a burning e mber. 
    I turn back to look down at my plate which is now just a simple wooden dish.  At least the food is real.  The chicken pasta is still hot and the aroma continues to fill my senses.  Without a nother word , I start eating again with Sema watching me closely.
    “So, we are no longer trying to impress the princess.  It’s about time.”  Ziri walk s through a door that appears from nowhere.  Still unable to look at him, I keep my head down and continue to eat. 
    “Yes.  It seems that Lily is as honest as her mother was,” replies Sema, also picking up her fork and starts to eat again.
    My fork stops midway to my mouth.  I look up at Sema, who is now ignoring me.  “Grab yourself some chicken pasta, Ziri , and join us.”
    I sit back in my chair and watch as Ziri looks suspiciously into the pot.  He sniffs at it for a moment, and then shrugs his shoulders , heaping a large portion of the food onto a plate.  After making his way to the table, he sits without a word and begins to eat.  The first spoonful was more of a taste for him.  Satisfied, he eats quickly as if starved for days.
    Finally coming up for air, he asks Sema, “What are these curly white things?”
    “It’s called rotini, a type of pasta,” answers Sema.
    “Where do they come from?  What kind of tree is it from?” he continues to question while eating, this time at a slower pace.
    “Why don’t you tell him, Lily?” offers Sema.
    I take a breath, then looking at Ziri who is wai ting expectantly, I say nodding, “Yeah , they’re called p asta trees and they grow everywhere in California .  Their bark is made of a type of shell call lasagna , and their branches are call manicotti .  They call the vines of these trees spaghetti and the blooms are small ruote and farfalle that grow in abundance.  These rotinis are the twisted seedlings found within the bloom s once they’ve dried and withered.”
    I pick up my fork again and smile sweetly at Ziri, who is now sitting back in his chair watching me carefully.  His only response is, “Huh, interesting.”  I glance up at Sema who gives me a wink, but keeps quiet.
    After a moment, he asks, “Why haven’t I heard of such a tree?”
    “They’re man- made,” I answer quickly.
    “Huh,” he replies again.  After a second of thought, he goes back to eating.
    Ha!  That will show him to mess with me.  My small joy of revenge last s only for a moment when Sema asks, “What of Cessa , Lily ?  Why don’t you call her?”
    I look up first at Sema and then at Ziri who continues eating, his attention on his food.  “It’s all right , Lily.  Ziri won’t hurt her.  They have known each other since Cessa belonged to Tharin’s mother.”
    I give Ziri a hard look until he looks up at me, mouth full with a mocking grin.  He continues to chew while he waits for me to call Cessa.  I lean toward him, stabbing the air with my fork , “You said you’d kill her if