The Descendants Series Vol. 1

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It was the middle of the afternoon, so we just decided to stay around the same area that we were in since we wouldn’t have been able to go far. 

I needed to do something to make me feel a little more normal, so I got up and started walking around.  My body ached, but working my muscles felt wonderful.  I walked a little farther away, telling Remy and Will that I’d be back in a few minutes, and started toward the trees.

I walked until I heard another bubbling creek.  When I reached it, I saw that it ran into a small pond, surrounded by huge rocks.  One rock was just the right height for me to sit on and put my feet in the water.  I sat down on it and took off my shoes, which were a totally different color than they were a few days ago.

The water was only about two feet deep and, when I put my feet in, I was surprised by how cold it was.  I looked at the water, watching it reflect the tree tops above me.  On one side of the pond was a single lily pad with a beautiful pink flower right in the middle.

I looked up and around.  I didn’t really see until then that the entire forest was beautiful.  The trees were covered with moss in some places and ferns growing around them.  The bright, setting sun and the fresh air made me feel alive, like I was a part of bigger thing.  But at the same time, all of the thousands, maybe even millions, of trees made me feel very small.  I was happy I was here, even though we were lost.  It was better to be lost and alive than be found and dead.

My thoughts turned toward home.  Surely our parents would have found out about the crash by now.  Maybe they’d already found the wreckage and were looking for us.  This place must have been pretty big if they hadn’t found us yet, but hopefully they wouldn’t stop looking.

I thought of school for some odd reason.  I wondered what day it was, since we hadn’t been keeping track, and how many days we had missed.  Spring break had to be over for a couple of days now.  We’d probably been out here for almost a week and a half.  It was hard to imagine school going on.  I felt like I needed, maybe even wanted, to be there.  I missed everything and everybody.

I felt an odd twist in my stomach just thinking about it.  I didn’t know how long we would be lost for if they gave up the search for us, if they were even searching.

It made me start to tear up just thinking about everything.  Everyone probably thought we were dead by now, but they would still want the search to continue, right?  They wouldn’t give up until someone – or something – was found.

At least I had Remy and Will with me.  They were the ones who kept me together, even though we had been through our few rough patches.  Everything had been put in the right place now.  There were no more secrets between us, except for the one that I didn’t know if I wanted to tell.  I probably would eventually, even if Remy didn’t want me to.  Maybe she wouldn’t even care.

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the sun-warmed rocks.  It felt good, like a heated blanket covering my entire body on a cold winter night.  It unwound my muscles that were knotted from sleeping on the hard, bumpy ground.  I relaxed and tried not to think of anything.

I didn’t realize anyone was there until I heard someone sit down beside me.  Of course it was Remy.  She had to have known something was wrong with me.

“What’s up with you?” she asked.

She walked closer to me and got up on the rock next to me.  She looked at me with worried eyes, trying to decipher what was going through my head.

“I don’t know.  I just don’t feel right,” I said, rubbing my forehead.  A pulsing started in my temples, radiating throughout my entire head.