Beyond the Mystic Canopy: Lila and Damian's Odyssey

"You look like a mushroom."

"I do not," Damian replied absentmindedly, looking at his reflection in the water. He was standing knee deep in the pool of a small waterfall, washing the dirt off his clothes.

"Yes you do," Lila insisted, "like one of those mushrooms that are all white and fluffy on top."

Damian looked up and rolled his eyes, smiling. He knew that Lila was just trying to get him to look at himself and she didn't really think he looked like a mushroom at all. Despite that, though, he couldn't help but laugh a little when he turned away from the water and saw her face. She was always so serious with this kind of stuff.

Lila was sitting on the grass by the edge of the pool, leaning back on her hands, staring up at the sky with her chin resting on her knees. Damian wondered what she was thinking about as he watched her for a moment. Lila was a strange person sometimes - quiet and shy when she wasn't talking about something she was passionate about, which was most things really. She could get really worked up over the smallest things - jumping around and laughing hysterically when they went to the park together or getting angry when someone got in their way while they were walking down the street or something like that. She hadn't been angry with him since that time they were playing football in the park and she got hit in the head with the ball (that had been pretty funny). She used to yell at him a lot when they were younger, but now she just makes silly faces instead.

She would go quiet when she was upset too, sometimes crying without making any sound at all or just staring into space for no reason. Damian guessed it made sense that someone who could be so silly sometimes could also be so serious; he felt like he was always mixed up like that himself. And even though she might not talk about it much, he knew that Lila was upset more than anything else lately - ever since their mum died last year.

Damian hugged his arms around his knees as he thought about his mum - about how she'd been sick for so long before she died...how terrible it had been to see her wasting away like that...how sad it had made them both feel...and how they'd had to go live with his aunt after it happened because their dad didn't know how to take care of them properly anymore without her there...and how long it had taken him to realise that actually maybe he didn't want to move back home again now either...and how much he missed their mum anyway even though he still didn't really want to leave where they lived now...and how scared he was that if Lila started feeling sad again too then maybe they would have to move again after all...

"What are you thinking about?" Lila asked suddenly as she looked over at him curiously. Damian realised with a jolt that he hadn't noticed her watching him intently for quite some time now - probably longer than "some time", in fact. That meant that his mind must have wandered off into some pretty weird places if he hadn't noticed her looking at him for so long! He laughed awkwardly as he shook himself out of his thoughts and answered: "Nothing", hoping that maybe if she thought it was nothing then maybe it would be nothing again soon and then Lila wouldn't notice anything strange about it and everything would be fine.

"Really? It seems like you were lost in your thoughts," Lila commented, her curiosity piquing. "Can you share them? We need to talk openly if we want to support each other."

Taking a deep breath, Damian realized that it was important for Lila to understand his fears and concerns. So instead of avoiding the conversation, he decided to open up to Lila. In doing so, he hoped to foster a stronger and more understanding relationship between the two of them. After all, they only had each other to lean on now.