Midnight Talks

It was dead. Everything was dead. The Earth was withered and dry, not a speck of green anywhere. The air was poison and she couldn't breathe. The water burned and the soil was like rubbing salt into a cut. Even the sun burned her. She opened her mouth but no sound came out.

Pamela Isley shot up in bed, breathing heavily as a scream escaped her. She covered her mouth almost instantly, and pressed a hand to her chest, trying to calm herself. She looked around, knowing she was in her cell, despite the fact that she couldn't see.

"That sounded dreadful," a whispery voice said from the darkness. "Care to discuss it?" Pam scowled.

"Piss off Crane!" She snapped at the man in the cell next to hers. The stone walls kept them from seeing each other, but it didn't keep them from talking.

"Let me guess," he said, not taking the hint. "The Earth was dying?"

"I said shut up!" She snarled. He stopped talking and the hallway went silent, save for the sound of Ivy's breathing. She took a deep breath and held it, listening. Next to her, she could hear Jonathan breath, hear his lungs take in oxygen and give off the carbon dioxide plants needed to live. One of his few uses.

"It happens every fall," he said, his voice moving to a tone that sounded as though a human could actually make it. "The dream, that is."

"God you're stubborn," Pam hissed, lying back down. He went silent again and when after five minutes he hadn't said another word Pam felt safe enough to try and sleep.

"The leaves will grow back," she heard him say. She sat up and cocked an eyebrow.

"What?" She asked.

"That's why you have these dreams," he said. "You're afraid of the Earth dying and every fall it's as though your nightmare has come to life. It hasn't. The leaves grow back. They always do. The plants haven't died, just fallen asleep. And they don't all sleep. The pines stay awake."

"It's so quiet," Pam said. She heard Jonathan give a bitter laugh.

"It's never quiet here," he said. "Never."

"It is for me," Ivy said. There was another moment of silence before he spoke again.

"I envy you for that," he said. "I'd kill for a bit of quiet." Pam smirked.

"I could help you there," she said. "I could make it quiet."

"How?" He asked.

"A kiss for my crow?" She offered. She heard him laugh again.

"So an execution?" He asked. It wasn't a question. Ivy shrugged, knowing he couldn't see her.

"It would be quiet," she said. He went quiet again and she could hear him breathing, as though he was thinking this over. Maybe he was.

"I'd miss these talks," he confessed. "They almost make life worth living." Pam smiled.

"I'd miss you," she replied. "You almost make men worth keeping." He went quiet again before speaking.

"Goodnight Miss Isley," he said, and she could almost hear him blush. It made her smile.

"Goodnight lover," she said. "Or do you prefer Jonathan?"

He didn't answer, but she knew he wasn't asleep.