NJ48

January 21 2005 (Early morning…VERY early morning. About 4am.)

I fainted! I fainted! Why in HELL did I faint! Wait. I need to start at the beginning. I tried to go back to sleep
first but couldn't. It felt like hours. Damn. Damn. Damn. Instead, I'm writing what I remembered, here. Maybe
that will trigger me.

We'd been walking for only half a day and it's been…fascinating. For now they wouldn't let us out of their sight.
Or even arms reach, practically. Everyone was keeping up a running dialogue. I'm so used to everything being
quiet but they all smiled when I mentioned it.

Cleome grinned wide, telling us that with a group like ours, no one is going to bother us because we'll confuse
them. Prey traveling with spiders who are traveling with…what? "Hoomans?" More grinning. Fleur and I just
both chuckled. I guess so. The whole thing would be extremely confusing to a set standard of familiar actions.

The flowers, again, are amazing. Then there's the…what's it called? Float Weed. It feels so solid beneath our
feet but they keep telling us that it's not. That we could fall through if we're not careful. Having fallen once
already, I'm trying to walk carefully, but I swear, it feels solid enough! Even Fleur has stomped her foot upon
occasion, in amazement. It's like tightly woven vines and it has something like grass growing out between the
tight vines. So what is that? The grass stuff?

Everyone was getting a bit more excited and I kept wondering why, but all they could tell me was that we were
coming up to the valley. We'd be able to see the Sentinel Tree properly from there. Ammie and Cleome
nodded. "We've been here before. It's been a long while and we were grateful for the softness and kindness
provided by the Helianthuns. It was an unpleasant business and I believe they saved our lives that day. Didn't
you, Theta?" smiled Ammie, softly. They were good friends, even though they predated on him. It was a hard
concept to understand.

Theta nodded, reaching out and caressing Ammie's cheek. "Damiana and I. Yes."

I tried to find out more but that's all she would say at the moment. She seemed to be growing excited…full of
anticipation.. I chewed on that for a while, walking. Spiders saved by the Helianthan's. A group of honeybees.
Sunflower honeybees. I believe that Helianthus is part of the scientific name for a type of sunflower.

I was walking with Fleur next to me and we literally had to climb/walk/whatever, around a bend. Like a slightly
rising curving staircase.

WHAM!

Cyeata in all its glory.

The valley spread out before us and in the center of it was the Tree. The Sentinel Tree. I thought Red Woods
were tall. This was indescribable. As I stared at the vast column that rose into the sky--for miles it seemed,
disappearing as it did so, the world spun. It was like my heart stopped.

It was so beautiful. My heart clenched with some forgotten memory.

I fainted.

Fainted for goodness sake! And Fleur is asleep miles away. No…make that thousands of miles away.

Oh! Wait! The phone is ringing! Maybe she woke up, too!

I just got off the phone. I have to go get dressed.

That was the hospital.

Johnathon is awake.