PHOBOPHOBIA

Not So Great Field Trip

Short but sweet chapter :)

Fun facts:
-Seahorses Get "Married"
-If you randomly start fake laughing, you may end up actually laughing
-Cows Have Best Friends
-The Actors Who Played Minnie and Mickey Actually Fell in Love and Got Married

Enjoy!

Hazel’s POV:

It was early morning- about maybe five o’clock. The sound of muffled chirping and soft snoring filled my ears as I squirmed on the floor, not ready to get up. After about five minutes of resisting the urge to wake up, I raised my head and looked around the pintrest-looking bus. I could see that Danielle and Damien fell asleep on Coconut while Lesly and Markus were laying near the now put out fire.

They all seem to be at ease despite all they went through. Speaking of- I wonder what we might go through today or the following week. The passing days have been absolutely disastrous and tiring; saying that my body was sore was an understatement. I wouldn’t even be surprised if I broke a bone or two.

Getting up from my spot on the floor, I made my way over to Lesly, since he seemed like he went through the least this week, and slightly tapped his shoulder.

POV switching…

3rd person POV:

“Lesly, wake up.”

“Huh- what?” Lesly weakly opened his eyes. “Make breakfast, I’m hungry.”

A silence fell over the two as Lesly stared at Hazel lazily. “..A please would be nice.” Lesly finally said. “Yeah but I’m hungry, make me a sammwich.” “That’s not even how you say it!” “Whatever, make me BREAKFAST!” Hazel snapped.

The two bickered until Markus woke up and stretched, making his way over to Damien. “-I MEAN IT! MAKE ME FOOD, GORDAN!” “NO!” Lesly sat up. “Guys would you SHUT UP!?” Danielle yelled from across the bus. Everyone was up, stretching, rolling over, or heading over to light the fire. Danielle kept scolding them for waking everyone up at 5 in the morning just because of something as silly as wanting breakfast while Damien tried to keep Markus from licking him. Calico went outside to retrieve firewood so it was just Danielle, Hazel, Lesly, Damien, and a dog.

Getting up, Lesly made his way to one of the compartments that replaces the back row of seats and pulled out a bag of dried lavender buds, a sachet, water, and a pot. He placed it down on the couch and went outside. There he retrieved honey in a makeshift freezer and a couple of cups he made out of clay last night. Calico came back with a tree (like a literal tree) and met up with Lesly and had a bright conversation that was mostly one
way- but still nice and relaxing nevertheless. “Hey mister, if you need to, the ax is on that stump over there. You can cut up that tree so we can add it to the fire, plus it’ll get rid of the weight on your back.” Lesly recommended. “Thank you.” With that, he left to go chop the tree.

Lesly walked onto the bus and greeted the others and informed them that Cal had returned from his search. “Good, it’s as cold as a motherfucker out here.” Damien groaned making his way outside. “You’ll be fine, it’ll warm up later.” Danielle sat next to Hazel who was petting Markus in a playful manner. Markus once again had his permanent smile on his face like nothing terribly traumatizing happened to him three or four times already. Trotting over, he laid in between Danielle and Hazel who both got the message and began to pet him on his stomach.

Damien and Calico returned inside and placed the wood down on the ground in front of the bus and they worked together to place the wood in the fire to make the flames burn higher. Once their task was complete they sat by the fire with everyone else and watched as Lesly put a pot on the fire.

He poured water in and made his way towards the lavender and sachet. He added almost all of the dry lavender buds into the sachet and sat on the couch until the water boiled. “Hey, whatcha making?” Damien asked in confusion. “Lavender tea!” Lesly happily chirped. Calico tilted his head, “What?” “Lavender tea can help soothe irritated stomach muscles and calm nerves. I won’t want us to end up all stressed out and stuff today so I thought we can all enjoy some tea, and not to mention the fact that some of you guys are injured.” Everyone looked at their body, he was right. Their bodies are covered in scars and scabs. After he finished rambling, he added the lavender and sat on the floor with the others.

“So what does lavender tea taste like?” Danielle spoke up. “It could be smoky and woody or floral and sweet but still a bit overpowering, so I’ll be adding honey to make the taste less bitter.”

“Sounds cool, it’s not like I haven’t accidentally eaten wood or flowers as a kid.” Hazel added. “Accidentally or purposefully?” Damien slyly asked. “Good question.” She brought a finger to her chin in thought. “Alright, let’s not talk about what weird things we ate as a kid- Lesly how long is this supposed to boil for?” Danielle interrupted. “Just 5 minutes and then let it steep for 10!” “Steep?” Danielle answered Calico’s confusion, “He means let it soak in a liquid until the liquid takes on the flavor of the dry ingredient.” “Oh.”

.
.

“Alright I’m bored, let’s play Racko.”
“Hazel, we don’t have board games.”
“Uno?”
“No.”
“Yahtzee?”
“No.”
“Twister?”
“No.”
“Strip poker?”
“No?”
“Poker?”
“Shutup.”

The lavender was finished and everyone was enjoying their morning tea while Markus was drinking water in a clay bowl. “Nice.” “You like it?” Calico nods. “I’m glad!” Lesly smiles and takes another sip of his tea. “Ouch!” “Damien, blown on the tea! You keep burning your tongue!” Danielle yelled. “But it’s good!” Danielle sighed, blew on her tea, and took a small sip. “Yeah Damien, calm your tits.” “Shut up Hazel!” Once again those two began to argue. “Guys- Guys!- GUYS!” Danielle tried to shut them up while Lesly and Calico just stared at each other. “Sorry.” “There’s no reason to appologise mister, it’s not your fault!” “Calico.” Lesly tilted his head in confusion but went straight once he remembered. “Oh!- I’m sorry, I forgot your name!” He kept appolgising and Calico kept trying to reassure him.

BARK BARK

“Watch your language, Daniel! A five year old should not use such foul language!”
“IT’S DAMIEN, DAMMIT!”
“IF YOU TWO DON’T SHUT UP!-”

BARK

“Are they always like this?”
“Sometime- yes, yes all time.”
“Not surprised.”

BARK BARK BARK

“HAZEL IF YOU DON’T SHUT UP YOUR DOG, I’MA PUT ‘EM DOWN”
“YOU CAN’T DO SHIT DANIELLE”

BARK BARK

“Markus, what’s wrong?”
“Dog.”
“Yeah- dog.”

screech

“..What is noise?”
“What noise?”

BARK

“LIKE YOU HAVE ROOM TO TALK, YOU-” screech “You-”
“‘I’ What? What’s wrong?”
“She probably ran out of shit to spit-”
“NO- shush!- do you guys hear that?” screech
“Hear wha-” screech

The group fell silent trying to figure out what or where that sound was playing from. screech The sound of metal forcefully coming apart was heard again towards the back of the bus. “What is that?” Damien whispered. “I don’t know, just stay away from the back of the bus.” Danielle quietly commanded. Hazel was in a state of shock and panic.

Voices.

Voices everywhere.

Things.

Things everywhere.

Mother.

Mother is here.

Happy Black History Month by the way! Ya’ll are SO pretty and your skin color, no matter what race, is beautiful! I hope you have a bright day/ shinny night!

Word count - 1292