"Dan Parkinson - Dragonlance Tales 3 - Love and War" - читать интересную книгу автора (Parkinson Dan)

that was the writhing mud, as the two creatures dug down to
escape the lantern light, or the air, or Aron himself.
Eventually, the writhing slowed, the mounds flattened,
and the ground was still. All was quiet. Even the fish lay
exhausted, their gills opening and closing uselessly. Aron
felt cheated not to see the face of the creature whom Petal
had called "My love, my love," but he was satisfied that it
would be a problem no more.
But who was that second creature?
Aron returned quickly to his cottage and, first thing,
checked Petal's room. He saw, to his relief, that she was
indeed there, curled up in her bed. So he went to bed
himself and slept more peacefully than he had in a long
time.
The next morning he awoke and went directly to his
loom, waiting for Petal to rise and make him some
breakfast. But she slept late that morning. Finally, his
stomach rumbling, Aron called out, "Petal! Come on! Make
your old father some breakfast."
She didn't answer.
 Perhaps she knows what I did and is being spiteful,
thought Aron. "Come on, girl! Up!"
She didn't answer.
Aron went to her room and found her still lying in her
bed, curled up. Naturally, there were no puddles this
morning, a fact that gave Aron much satisfaction.
"Up, my girl!" he called, walking over to her and
brashly pulling away the covers.
His eyes nearly popped out of his head. It was not Petal at
all but pillows set up to mimic her form.
Without a moment's hesitation, Aron dashed from the
room, grabbed one of Petal's large gardening shovels, and
ran to the dried pond.
When he got there, he saw what, in his eagerness, he
had missed the night before: his daughter's gown, lying
rumpled on the bank. He immediately stepped into the mud
to get to the center, but the farther he went, the deeper his
legs went into the mud. At one point the mud came nearly
up to his knees, and he could hardly walk. But he pressed
on, thinking only of his darling Petal lying buried in the
mud.
Then, as he neared the center of the pond, Aron noticed
something odd. There, right where he meant to dig, was a
tiny green plant shoot. Or rather two tiny green plant shoots.
They were entwined delicately about each other. And before
Aron could pull his right leg from the mud, those two green
shoots, right before his eyes, began to grow.
In a matter of moments, they transformed into long,
elegant tree saplings, both still entwined about each other.
But they didn't stop there.