The Golden Girl

Chapter 27

Here comes the sun echoed around my head as we pulled up in the rainforest.

"Okie," Jules said, stepping out. "Which walk do we feel like?"

There were several, highlighted on the map.

"What about that one?" I said, pointing to the long green line.

"Oh yes, it looks like it goes to a small lagoon, let's do it!" She said enthusiastically.

✽

We started trekking through the green foliage.

"It's very weird going from two very different places," I murmured.

Julie was in front of me and stopped for a second to respond.

"I miss Victoria." She whispered.

"There's something special about the landscape down there," I said, having a sudden vision of the rolling plains overlooking the ocean.

"It's very pretty." She agreed, and then she suddenly turned on her toe. "You don't regret coming do you?"

I laughed, "No Jules, of course not. My Gran said in a letter she left me, that sometimes you need to follow your heart, and my heart needed the Sunshine Coast, not Inverloch."

This made her expression break into a large grin.

"I'm glad you listened to your heart."

"So am I." I smiled.

✽

The water was like aqua glass rippling in a perfect circle before drifting out to sea. We were speechless.

"It's beautiful," I murmured.

Julie nodded, taking a small object out of her backpack.

"What's that?" I asked, intrigued.

"I took one of Angus's cameras." She explained.

A small part of me still melted when I heard his name. I did still miss him, coming back had only made it worse.

"I think the view would be really nice up there," She said, pointing towards the rocking ledge.

It stretched towards the horizon.

"Let's go climb it." I grinned.

The mass of the turquoise sea stretched for miles.

"Go stand over there, and I'll take some photos." Julie gestured.

A shiver ran down my spine.

"Okay." I walked slowly, feeling the dread of deja vu.

It was high, soaring above the waves, just like the cliff on Eagle Nest.

"That's perfect. Your hairs lit up in the sun."

The dread got worse. I watched her, closing. Surely what I saw was an illusion, but as I watched, it kept moving. The rock beneath her was swaying. There was a dark hole to the side of where she was standing. I knew what was about to happen. It was instant. Just as she went to put her full force on the rock, I lunged towards her. I held on for dear life, as we started falling. It was horrible, to see the terror in those peaceful eyes, and know that death was near, but I was determined to protect her. The rocks jarred my body as we fell, scraping my bare legs and arms. I heard it before I felt it. An ear-piercing snap. It wasn't until we hit the firm rock, that I felt the sharp pain numb me in place. It was excruciating and yet my screams vanished as I noticed Julie. She was lying across from me, her arms and legs entangled in the rock.

"Jules!!" I screamed, trembling with fear.

She didn't move.

"JULES!!" I repeated.

I moved my body an inch and instantly felt the consequence. A darkness enveloped me for a second, causing me to freeze in place. I couldn't move it. My leg was all weird, jutting out in the wrong directions. It started as a fearful pain but soon became a hysterical cry. My heart was being torn out of my being. I was going to lose her, and it caused me to scream in horror. The misery I felt was unbearable. So unbearable, that it eclipsed my shattered leg in an instant.