Of course Dec didn't come,his stubbornness saw to that and Ant attempted to make himself comfortable laying down in the dirt and taking his T shirt off to use as a pillow.
It was bloody uncomfortable,God knows the shelter was bad enough,but he'd just have to make do for now,surprisingly,he did actually manage to drift off to sleep eventually.
Unfortunately,Ant woke up aching all over,partly from his uncomfortable makeshift bed and partly from Decs endless thumping frenzy from yesterday.
He sat up and noticed a friendly face watching him.
"Good morning Piccolo" Ant smiled at the cute animal "have a good sleep did ya?"
Piccolo came over and immediately let Ant stroke him.
"Decs still in the shelter is he?" He asked the animal,who just stared at him blankly.
After getting up to throw some more tinder on the now barely smouldering fire,Ant glanced over to the wooden shack,there were enough gaps between the pieces of wood for him to see that it was in fact empty.
He wandered down to the beach to see if Dec was there.
He wasn't.
Ant had by now started to feel rather guilty about the previous days events,he had overreacted,he knew that now,but bloody hell,Dec could be infuriating sometimes.
Ant decided that he'd like to clear the air with Dec when he came back from wherever he had gone,although Ant was more than aware how Dec held a grudge and may not be willing to move on,not yet anyway.
Ant decided to go for a quick dip in the sea to freshen up,he couldn't be bothered with going back to the waterfall just yet.
After washing himself as best as he could,he sat on the beach,staring out to sea,pondering where Dec might actually have gone.
Probably just to the waterfall or to collect more mangoes,Ant decided.
So until Dec returned,Ant thought he'd have another go at fishing,but unfortunately this attempt wasn't any more successful than the first one.
How long does it take to have a wash at the waterfall or collect some fruit?Ant mused to himself.
Dec had been gone for ages now and Ant didn't even know how long ago he had left as he had been asleep at the time,but he was getting slightly worried,he hoped to God that Dec hadn't gone off in some area they'd never been to before to search for food as he was bound to get lost.
Ant wondered if he should go and look for him,at the very least to help carry the fruit if that's what Dec was doing,but where would he start?he had no idea what direction Dec had gone in,he could be anywhere.
So he sat on the sand for longer and longer,petting Piccolo whenever he came near and pondering about Decs whereabouts and reliving their fight,coming to the conclusion that they had both been out of order and should sort it out,he also wanted to apologise to Dec,he knew he'd gone too far and there was no excuse for him physically attacking Dec.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing,Ant thought to himself,he couldn't quite believe that yesterday he had been ready to end a friendship of over thirty years over something so trivial.
He shook his head sadly before hearing a rustling in the trees.
"Dec?" He asked hopefully.
Unfortunately,it wasn't Dec,just the wind blowing through the forest.
Ant sat in thought for a few more moments,scratching at the moustache that was now growing on his upper lip,he didn't mind it,fancied himself as a bit of a Magnum P.I. in fact,all he needed now was a cigar.
"Ok,that's it" Ant stated to himself "I'm going to find him,you coming Piccolo?"
Piccolo let out a large yawn and hopped off towards the shade to lay down.
"Take that as a no then shall I?" Ant mumbled to himself.
Ant grabbed his bottle of water and made his way into the forest,deciding the waterfall and mango tree would be the best place to start his search,but there was no sign of Dec at either once he got there.
Ant wasn't surprised,the waterfall was only about a twenty minute walk from the beach,Dec would have been back hours ago if that was where he'd gone.
So,Ant carried on,not really knowing the best direction to take,it didn't really matter anyway,all that mattered was finding Dec somewhere...anywhere!
Ant was becoming increasingly desperate as night began to fall,fearing that they would both be lost in the forest,if that is what had happened to Dec,so Ant was desperate to find him before it got completely dark.
It would already be hard enough to find his way back now anyway with how far he'd walked into the forest and in a direction he'd never taken before.
Ant was worried and scared,but he had to persist,wherever Dec was,whatever had happened to him,Ant owed it to him to find him and bring him back.
"Where the hell are you Declan?" Ant mumbled to himself.
He was seriously thinking about just sleeping there in the dark forest and resuming his search at daybreak,he could barely see his nose in front of his face anyway now it was pitch dark,but decided to carry on for just a bit longer.
Pushing branches and twigs out of the way to make a clearer path,Ant realised he had stepped on something,he bent down to pick the object up,immediately realising it was one of Decs flip flops.
"Shit" Ant said out loud,scouring the area in the darkness for a clue to his friends whereabouts.
As he slowly crept forward,desperately trying to get his eyes to adjust to the increasing darkness,he noticed a figure a few feet ahead of him.
He immediately ran to it,quickly realising it was Dec,laying there on the ground,with his face half buried in the dirt.
"Oh God Dec" Ant cried out,as he knelt down beside Dec and tried to shake some life into him "what is it?what's wrong?what happened?"
There was no response from Dec,he was unconscious.
Ant also noticed that his breathing was shallow and his skin was hot and clammy,he was in a very bad way indeed.
Ant couldn't begin to imagine what had happened to Dec,he only knew he needed to get him back to the shelter where he would at least be a little bit more comfortable and Ant could look after him the best he could under the circumstances.
That was if Dec even survived the journey!
part 11
Start from the beginning
