When There Is Nothing Left But Love

“Let’s go that way!” Nora called to us. She spotted Tabitha and Laurel just climbing out of the hole. “What’s up, you two? If you’ve had a good rest, let’s move on!”

The two women nodded as they dusted the dirt and grime off their wrinkly clothes. They glanced at Tessa, who was still immersed in her prayers. Tabitha mumbled, “She’s so pious. Do you think God with really bless her?”

Nora shrugged. “Let’s go!”

The forest was rather humid in the morning. The soil had become loose. One could hear the soft crunching of the earth just by stepping on it.

“Ah!” Laurel screamed. Then, she squatted on the spot she had previously stepped on and began to scrape at the ground.

Very soon, we saw what had been hiding underneath the earth. It was a cluster of yellowish-white fungi. Some of them had been crushed under her feet.

Only a few short and stout ones were spared.

“Mushrooms!” Tessa, who had been reciting her prayers the whole time, promptly came forward and started digging up the plants from under the fertile soil. She wiped the dirt off and began to swallow them a few pieces at a time.

Laurel, looking equal parts terrified and worried, wondered, “Do we… eat them raw? Just like that?”

Tabitha turned around and, indeed, managed to find other mushrooms of the same variety under some rotten leaves.

She passed some of them to us. “Yes, this kind of mushrooms can be eaten raw. There used to be plenty at my place and we did this all the time. Sure, they won’t satisfy our hunger, but it’ll have to do for now. Let’s eat!”

They dug in. The rest of us, having barely eaten anything for a day, followed suit.

“Are you sure we won’t have any hallucinations after eating these? Once, I watched the news about poison testers in the south. They

“Well, if you know which ones to eat and which ones to avoid,

kinds of mushrooms in the soil. She

cook them. If not, we’ll see things that aren’t

a lighter, otherwise, we could have made ourselves a feast supplied by Mother Nature herself,” Nora sighed as she stuffed more mushrooms

all of a sudden, prompting everyone else to look towards her,

God decided to show Himself?” Nora

face turned pale, her body

her gaze simultaneously. There was a tiny green snake, about fifty centimetres in length,

not have noticed it if we had not been paying attention. The snake spat

snake is venomous. We have to be careful!” Tabitha yelled,

from the corner of my eyes. There was a branch that must have been snapped in half by the wind. One

it’s giving me goosebumps!” Nora stood close to me. Driven by anxiety and

I was scared too. The creature was inches away from us, equipped

too late if we run now?” Nora muttered,

said, her voice trembling. “This is a bamboo

we can’t just stay here like

she was shaking uncontrollably, her face

the reptile hiding among the leaves with a wicked glint in her

closest to the snake. Any careless movements and the snake could latch onto her and sink its fangs