“It better be worth it,” I say.

“It will be,” she replies. “You can see so much from up here, and we’re not even halfway. We’ll be able to see a lot more the higher we go.”

“Higher?”

“Oh, don’t be such a wuss.”

“That’s alright for you to say. You know I don’t like heights.”

More sweat gets into my eyes, and for a second, I lose my grip on Meeko’s arm. Luckily for me, her own grip is a firm one, and despite her slight frame, she pulls me upwards, inch by inch as if she were in a game of tug of war. I guess that could be a metaphor for our love, but I’ll keep such thoughts to myself. Don’t want to start another argument, not when my position is so precarious.

“It’s not that high, not really. Didn’t you once tell me how you always climbed trees as a kid looking for new ways of seeing? That’s the problem when you get older—you lose the desire to seek different perspectives. It’s why people get stuck in their ways.”

“This is why we’re climbing a tree?”

“Pretty much.”

“Right,” I sigh.

“But it’s not my idea, Hachikō is the one who brought us here. If you don’t like it, he’s the one you ought to question.”

Letting go of my arm, Hachikō lets out a bark before licking my fingers as they wrap around the branch he’s perched upon. Looking over my shoulder, I see the dead leaves beneath me dancing again.

X and I: A Novel and A Journal for Damned Lovers on Amazon UK

X and I: A Novel and A Journal for Damned Lovers on Amazon US