The fact of the matter was that sometimes, trees were easier than people. For one thing, trees didn't kill people. At least, not in most universes, including Ariadne's. For another, trees were much better listeners than people. Part of that was probably because they couldn't talk back. The other part was that they were rooted to the spot and couldn't avoid you and ignore you. And yes, it was a certain Anakin Skywalker that Ariadne found herself comparing (unfavorably) to trees lately.
Ultimately, given the fact that the trees had come with her from Deerington, Ariadne had begun to think of her orchard as the closest thing she had to family. With everything going on around her, more and more, she found herself bundled up in her cloak, walking around the orchard purely to have someone she could share her troubles with.
Of course, it didn't help matters that she'd named all the trees.
Her morning routine was always the same. After washing and getting dressed, she'd go down to the orchard and say good morning to each of them by name. "Good morning, Jane! Good morning, Araceli! Good morning, Tyler!"
They were all her trees and she loved them. But somewhere along the line, she'd decided that her pear tree, Sophia, was the best listener. So when she didn't have pressing matters, she spread out her cloak underneath Sophia's winter branches and shared all of her troubles. Today was one of those days. "Sometimes," she said, a hand on the tree's trunk, looking down into her roots, "I regret not learning to take up the sword. I don't like swords, you know that. But it seems like they've become a kind of language around here. It's really quite horrible."
For Illarion
Ultimately, given the fact that the trees had come with her from Deerington, Ariadne had begun to think of her orchard as the closest thing she had to family. With everything going on around her, more and more, she found herself bundled up in her cloak, walking around the orchard purely to have someone she could share her troubles with.
Of course, it didn't help matters that she'd named all the trees.
Her morning routine was always the same. After washing and getting dressed, she'd go down to the orchard and say good morning to each of them by name. "Good morning, Jane! Good morning, Araceli! Good morning, Tyler!"
They were all her trees and she loved them. But somewhere along the line, she'd decided that her pear tree, Sophia, was the best listener. So when she didn't have pressing matters, she spread out her cloak underneath Sophia's winter branches and shared all of her troubles. Today was one of those days. "Sometimes," she said, a hand on the tree's trunk, looking down into her roots, "I regret not learning to take up the sword. I don't like swords, you know that. But it seems like they've become a kind of language around here. It's really quite horrible."