Offer a Bite to Her, Which She Declines

You hold the fruit to her, even as your rise to your feet, as if automatically, to fetch another. You pay no attention to whether or not she finishes the fruit as you begin to greedily pluck fruit after fruit. You find yourself on your knees in the shade of the tree consuming them with a wanton desire.

It isn't until you discover the pits that your desire is made addiction. They shock your tongue with a sweetness you've never known, but rather than causing your stomach to wretch, your mind succumbs to the sensation. You quiver as you swallow it whole. You pat across the ground, desperate for the pits of the fruit you already finished. And when they are gone, you realize more and more fruit begin falling from the tree to feed your addiction.

A dozen, two dozen? It's hard to tell how many you consumed before you pat around the ground desperately searching for more, but there are none left. You look up, but rather than finding the tree, you find bare sharp branches of a dead and grey tree.

"It drew its leaves back in..." Nealie states curiously. "As the fruit fell it folded and withered..."

Curiously with the fruit gone your compulsion seems to wane. You sigh, considering yourself fortunate that you didn't lose yourself to some magical addiction. "That could have gone poorly... I'm sorry Nealie, I've lost myself in this place."

She merely smiles softly, and offers a word of encouragement before a gurgle in your belly interrupts the both of you.