BORROWED [Watty Awards Finalist/NEWLY EDITED!]

Chapter Fifteen

|Venom|

I can't catch a break. The stifling sun beats down on my face, and for once, I think I might get sunburned. Sand trickles between my toes, embedding inside my blistered heels. The wind is making it harder to walk up these steep sand dunes.

"Where are we?" I say to Finn. He stops walking, waiting for me to walk alongside him. He has wrapped an extra shirt around his head, to protect the vulnerable skin where hair once had covered before his cancer.

He smirks. "You've been sheltered, haven't you?" Finn points ahead. "These are the Kelso dunes, the third tallest sand dunes in all of North America."

"Wow," I say, gazing around at the beautiful rolling hills of sand. "You know your stuff, Finn." He laughs, reaching down to grab hold of my hand. "Yeah, well, my dad and I use to come out here and camp a lot, before Sylas put an end to the idea of backpacking in the desert. This place is truly amazing when looked at in a different perspective," Finn says proudly.

I squeeze his hand. "Oh you mean, thinking of it without being abandoned because your car blows up after being shot at, then forced to walk miles through the sand?" We both can't help but laugh at this notion. It seems unreal.

Finn lets go of my hand, a mischievous grin spreads across his face. "Want to see something extremely awesome?" he says.

I nod even though I'm unsure of what he's suggesting.

He looks at the rest of the group, and says, "Hey! Let's make some noise!"

Ivy, Jordon, and Polly stop ahead. They look back at us, and then glance at one another. I haven't seen this many smiles in a long time, if ever. Finn tugs me along, and we sprint after the rest of them, climbing up the steep sand dunes. As we stand in a row at the very top, staring downward, a revelation of how high we are from the bottom hits me. Suddenly, I'm hesitant to do whatever it is Finn might be planning. Still holding my hand, Finn looks at everyone, and nods once.

"Alright, let's make this sand move!" he says.

Everyone leaps forward, knocking sand loose. I watch in amazement as they all run down the side of the dune, cheering, and laughing. Finn tugs my arm lightly, and winks. It's a gesture, saying that I can trust him. My legs are in full force, Finn leads me down to the bottom. The heat, my ankle, and the idea of being a Borrowed disappeared from my thoughts during the moments I let the sand whisk me away.

Standing at the bottom now, we watch the flow of sand pour down the side of the dune, and a loud booming noise echoes off the rolling hills. I've never experienced anything like this before in my life. Everyone stands silently, listening to the beautiful sounds created by the sand. Right now, this very moment, I've never been happier. Never in my life have I felt so at peace with who I am. Closing my eyes, I tilt my head upward. I allow the sun to beat directly down on my cheeks, and let my ears listen to the melody of the Mojave Desert.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Finn says, pulling me back to reality.

"I've never seen or heard anything like this before. How does it make that noise?"

Finn looks outward at the dunes, shielding his eyes from the sunlight with his hand. "No one quite understood it years ago, but there is a theory that was finally proved that it's caused by grains of quartz and feldspar rubbing against each other."

"What?" I look up at him curiously.

He laughs. "Sorry, I'm not trying to look like a know-it-all."