"I like it," said Vincent, referring to his newly minted moniker.

"Really?" questioned Susanna with a hopeful face.

"Yes, actually I do. I may not know much about names, but I like the way 'Vincent' sounds. It's feels strong and distinctive."

"It's a special name--to me, at least. It has run in my family for a very long time. In fact, it originated with my ancestor, Vincent I of Cairnbridge, who first found this area and made it his home. His great-grandson was the one who built the estate beyond those hills."

"An even greater honor. I will bear the name with pride."

"Oh, that makes me so happy!" she said, clapping her hands in glee.

Susanna and Vincent were just finishing their breakfast, emptying the leafy basket of all of its fare. Everything was delectable. From the strawberries dipped in the wild honey, to the choice almonds and pecans, and especially the blueberries, Susanna was content. Vincent had asked her if it had been sufficient and she told him it had been more than enough; in truth, she could have eaten more, having missed dinner the previous night. She knew, though, that Vincent had worked hard to gather it all and that to him, this food would have lasted weeks. She was grateful.

By now, the sun was fully risen and was casting its light upon the glade. With the warm sunlight, the gentle breeze, the sweet perfume of the flowers around them, and an appeased belly, Susanna was tempted to lie down and go back to sleep.

She was at peace here. Though she loved Cairnbridge dearly, this was the first time she felt truly at home in these woods. In the past, she had never been able to fully separate herself from the thoughts of the world with all its duties and chores and responsibilities. Even Cairnbridge Manor was the subject of an inheritance dispute. She was far less interested in the matter than her father was, who (rightly) believed that their cousins did not sincerely care for the estate. To them, it was just another one of their many properties. To Susanna, all that really mattered was the land, which jointly belonged to everyone in her extended family. No matter who owned the house, she would always be free to walk this ground. For this, she was extremely thankful.

"Vincent?" ask Susanna, who was reclining in her grass patch.
"Yes?" he replied distractedly. He was in the process of climbing an orchid and was hanging from its arching stem, almost hidden among its pink and white flowers that fluttered with every move.

"Did you plant this garden?" inquired Susanna. "I only ask because it is stunningly beautiful and I know that there's no way this grew naturally. This came at the hands of a master gardener." She was fond of gardening herself ever since her grandmother had given her a box of seeds for a childhood birthday. Despite her amateur experience, she never would have been able to sustain anything like the garden of the glade.

"I had a hand in making it, yes," Vincent answered with a strained voice. He was swinging himself upwards in an attempt to sit atop the orchid when one of his hands slipped and he hung precariously by one arm. Growing frustrated, he gave up his attempt and let go of the flower entirely. Instead of falling, however, he levitated himself upwards until he was above the flower, then lowered again until he was straddling it like a mount. "There we go!" he said in satisfaction.

"There you go again! Why even bother walking or climbing or anything when you can just fly?"

"It's like I said. It doesn't quite work like that." Vincent explained further, "Let's just say that while I can, it's a lot easier to do things the 'traditional' way."

"Okay, very well. Going back to the garden, though..." Susanna continued. "Yesterday, this was just an empty meadow. There was only grass here and no sign of anything else growing. And yet, today I can count no less than two dozen varieties of flowers, all in full bloom! There's no way they could have sprouted and grown in the course of the evening. You said you had a 'hand in making it.' What do you mean?"

Vincent paused for a moment and candidly answered, "They grew because I asked them to."

"You asked them to?" asked Susanna.

"More or less--though perhaps not so much verbally."

"Go on..."

"Well, I imagined the garden in my mind and I wanted it to be real. It agreed, and it was so."

Susanna's faced showed that she was still pondering his answer. She was coming to understand, but had many more questions. "And so, is that how you fly, stand on air, or whatever it is that you can do?"

"Basically! I just want to..." said Vincent, leaping from his orchid perch and rising through the air until he was floating a few inches from Susanna's eyes, "...and I do."

"Fascinating..." Susanna whispered breathlessly.

Vincent had never put much thought into his abilities. Not having had contact with a human before, he was not aware that his skills were unique. There was no standard of comparison. He had always been able to do such things. To him, it was as natural as walking or jumping.

Nothing had ever taken such an interest in him as Susanna did. He didn't mind her questions because no one had ever asked him those questions before. She made him feel important and special, and he liked that feeling. Spending a lifetime in the forest was a lonely existence, and while he was used to it and didn't quite mind, he very much enjoyed the company of Susanna and her (dare he say it) friendship. That, in Vincent's opinion, was special.

As a gesture of friendship—but also in an attempt to impress her further—he decided that he was going to put on a show for her. "Watch this..." he said with bravado.

Vincent started with a few simple tricks. Closing his eyes in concentration, he began spiraling in the air, performing vertical loops and barrel rolls, much to Susanna's delight. He sprung a few back flips and cartwheels just as if he were on the ground, then started "swimming" in mid-air, jokingly beginning with a doggie paddle before transitioning into a full-on backstroke.

Susanna had a mischievous look in her eyes when Vincent made his way back towards her. When he was about to round another "lap" around her face, she pursed her lips and started to blow. This caught Vincent by surprise, as he suddenly found himself being buffeted by a gale force wind. Her breath knocked him head over heels through the air. Losing his concentration, he started to plummet to the ground!

Susanna let out a gasp as she watched her friend in freefall, immediately feeling guilty. She tried to reach out her hand to catch him, but she had blown him too far away and she had lost sight of him. In fact, she could not see him anywhere! She scanned the ground in worry, but he had disappeared. Her heart started to race.

"Vincent?!" she cried out. She carefully fell to knees and started crawling on all fours towards the direction she saw him fall, being very conscious of where she was placing her hands and knees.

As she began searching the ground, she felt something land on the small of her back, run up along her spine, and dive into the forest of her hair. It was now crawling at the base of her neck and it tickled her as it burrowed its way its way to the top of her head. Her suspicions were confirmed when it emerged and apparently started to dance a celebratory jig on her crown.

Very slowly and carefully, Susanna raised her hands along her sides. She clasped both of them around the little braggart, being careful not to harm him. With a satisfied smile, she brought her hands to her face and opened them. Nothing! "Why you little...arg!" Susanna was starting to grow tired of this little game. She had a very competitive nature and she did not like to be outwitted. She was determined to get her comeuppance on her impish friend.

She heard his laughter from behind her and spun around quickly. Vincent was there sitting cross-legged before her eyes wearing a taunting grin. She lunged at him in an attempt to capture him, but he eluded her grasp. She lunged again, but this time her foot accidentally stepped on the nearby basket and she slipped. Her arms flailed instinctively, seeking to stabilize her balance or to find something to grab, but there was nothing there and she went crashing to the ground.

Vincent realized that things had perhaps gone too far. His grin was wiped from his face when he heard the loud thud and saw Susanna lying on the ground. Oh, not again....

"Susanna! Susanna, are you okay? Oh, I'm so sorry! Please answer me!" he shouted as he sped his way through the air to where she was.

Susanna was very still, much more than she had been after she had fainted. This fall had not be as graceful as before and Vincent feared she might be very hurt. He descended upon her forehead in haste and made his way to her nose. Once again, he was having to check her vital signs. He stood there for a few seconds when his fears were escalated.

Susanna was not breathing.

"Oh, by the trees! Susanna!" he exclaimed. What was he going to do? Vincent was panicking. Turning around, he noticed that her lips, which before had been ruby red, were starting to lose their color. He was no physician, but he knew that this was not a good sign. He needed to make his way to her chest where he could check on her heart, though he was not sure what it would accomplish. Worse still, he feared that he would not find it beating...

Vincent did not make it two steps. Before he could make it to Susanna's chin, he felt himself suddenly falling. The next thing he knew, it was very dark...and very wet...and smelled faintly of berries. He had the grim realization that this pit was Susanna's mouth! Her lips had been closed, but her jaws were apart and he must have slipped through. He was currently resting perilously on her tongue, which stretched twice the length of his body. He was fortunate to be near its tip, for he did not want to find himself any closer to its other end...

Vincent writhed around in Susanna's mouth, seeking to find a griphold. He could not concentrate enough to levitate, but if he could just grasp her lower incisors, it might be possible for him to pull himself up and out of this situation. He could almost reach them, but his efforts were thwarted when her tongue started to squirm. Without warning, the great muscle tightened and he was flung against the roof of her mouth, her tongue the only thing keeping him from descending further. Nearby, elsewhere in Susanna's body, he heard the deafening roar of a mighty rushing wind. It was Susanna...she was breathing!

Vincent's excitement was short-lived, as he was still in a very dangerous situation. Susanna may be breathing, but she may not be conscious, which meant that she may not be aware that she was growing increasingly close to swallowing him whole. The saliva in her mouth had been slowly accumulating and his clothes were nearly saturated with the viscous liquid. He had intentionally dared not look down, but made a quick glance. It was enough for him to see that not one foot below him, Susanna's uvula--which was nearly the length of his leg--lay in wait, guarding the entrance to her throat. The water level was rising. Time was running out. He would have to act fast.

"Susanna!" cried Vincent, at the top of his lungs. "Susanna, can you hear me? Please...just don't swallow!" It was all he could think to do.

Vincent could feel the entirety of Susanna's mouth shifting around him. His base fears told him that her tongue was getting in place to send him on to his next unwilling destination. However, that was not the case. Rather, her body was greatly quaking and trembling about him, and it appeared that poor Susanna was having convulsions! She was shaking violently. The convulsions were accompanied by a deep guttural noise, a noise that sound very much like...laughter.

Vincent sat silently on the ground, staring at the dirt. He was sopping wet, but he did not care. He was fuming.

"How many times can I say, 'I'm sorry?'" Susanna pled, tears streaming down her eyes. "I'll say it once more: I am very, very sorry, Vincent."

There was no response.

"Can we just agree that the situation spiraled out of control? And remember, you are not completely innocent. You had me terrified when you fell and I couldn't find you anywhere."

Vincent looked up at Susanna with a stern expression. "My fall did not threaten your life."

"I was never going to let any harm come to you! I know I went too far, but I was in complete control the entire time."

"What if you had swallowed me, Susanna?!" Vincent lashed out. "Even on accident? You may not realize how easy it would be, but I am a very small man and you are much, much larger than me! I'm not much bigger than those blueberries you devoured, you know?"

That last comment stung Susanna in the directly in the heart. Vincent immediately wished he could take back those words when he saw his friend's face break out into an anguished sob. Susanna buried her face in her hands and began to bawl.

"Oh no...no, Susanna, I didn't mean that," he said, flying towards her in an effort to console her. By now, her chestnut hair was disheveled about her face. He made his way to one side of her head and brushed it back into place, one handful of hair at a time. The sound of her wailing was heartbreaking, knowing that he wounded her with his words. This was Susanna, his first and only friend, the very woman he had been waiting for for years...and not even within a day, he had made her cry.

Perhaps that's another one of my talents, he thought. Charm. Granted, what he had said was true, but it was spoken not so much out of anger, but out of fear. He had felt helpless, not just with his own life, but with hers. He needed to tell her that.

Vincent hovered by Susanna's ear and gently whispered into it. "Susanna? Susanna, it's my turn to apologize. I hurt you with my words and terribly regret them. I do not want to hurt you. The truth is, I was not angry at you. I was...scared." He confessed to her that had she actually been in danger, he was not sure that he could have helped her. In fact, instead of helping her, he found his own life endanger. Susanna's intentions aside, the thought terrified him.

The two of them sat silently, with Vincent still sitting in Susanna's ear, his feet dangling by her silver stud earrings. Susanna was sniffling, but had stopped crying. About a minute later, Vincent watched as her hand appeared below him. Her other hand appeared and tapped her palm gently with its index finger, signaling Vincent to hop on. He complied.

Her palm carried him in front of her face. It was face was flushed and her eyes were bleary from the tears.

Susanna breathed deep and sighed. "Vincent, do you forgive me?"

"Yes, Susanna. Of course I forgive you," he responded. "Do you forgive me?"

"Yes, I forgive you," she said, a little smile emerging among her still-trembling lips. "Good...because I very much like being friends with you."

"You're my only friend!" said Vincent. "And I really like you, too."

The moment was endearing. However, Susanna started to snicker. Soon, she was breaking out into laughter once more, much to Vincent's confusion. Without explanation, she lifted him up and held him right in front of her left eye. It was still a little red from her tears, but nonetheless, he found it mesmerizingly beautiful as he stared directly into her hazel eye. It was like surveying a distant galaxy.

He still did not quite understand until Susanna instructed, "Vincent...look at your reflection in my eye." A moment later, Susanna could see him start chuckling. In another moment, the two of them were in stitches.

Apparently, Vincent's excursion in her mouth had left him...deprived. Aside from the fact that his curly hair was in a ridiculous wet and tangled mess, Vincent was standing bare-chested, his torso naked in the wind.

Susanna had swallowed his shirt.