The Disbanders

Chapter 14: Confessions

"I know, who would've thought!", says Alexa. "Maybe it was some old hermit who lived about fifty years ago, who put this together!"

"Yeah, maybe," laughs Chuck.

As Alexa and Chuck ramble on, I admire this place in silence, taking it all in. It feels weird, yet incredibly cool, to be sitting somewhere that was right around us all along, yet we had no idea of its existence.

"Wait! I just realized something!", I exclaim.

"What is it?', asks Will.

"We can store our stuff from the trailer out here!"

"That's true, we should load that up there!", exclaims Hayden. "Let's go!"

Gradually, we pack all of our stuff up in the attic. Some of us stay up here to collect the items received, which is Evie and I. Alexa holds her balance on the ladder, while the boys walk back and forth passing stuff to Alexa.

Eventually, we all finish, prompting us all to climb back up in the attic.

"Wow, there's still quite a bit of space left. This is cool," says Chuck, running his hand through his hair. We all gradually lie on the floor, glancing up at the ceiling in silence.

"Should we clean up in here?", asks Evie.

"I think we're fine. It's not like we're trying to impress anyone out here," replies Alexa. "Look, I'm going to get out of here. It's getting hot up here."

"Yeah, let's go," agrees Chuck. Everyone gradually files out. Hayden is the last to leave, as he falls down the ladder. He lands face down, prompting a gasp out of us. We don't hear a response from him.

"Hayden!", exclaims Evie.

"Hayden! Are you okay?", asks Alexa. She turns him over, revealing his face.

Hayden finally gasps for air, as he keeps wheezing and laughing.

"Dude, you're crazy!", laughs Chuck. The rest of laugh along with him, while deep down being relieved that he's okay.

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The sky has gone dark once more, as we're wrapping up from another meal. Our meals have become noticeably smaller, but we're surely going to hunt something big by tomorrow.

The wind is picking up, making it a chilly night. The clouds have cleared, exposing a full moon and some stars, for the first time that we can remember since summer.

"I think I'm going to head in," says Hayden. "It's getting pretty chilly." I look up at the sky for a minute.

"Wow, those stars really are pretty," I declare, before realizing how I completely ignored Hayden.

"Yeah, they are nice," acknowledges Will.

"It's really beautiful up there. We don't usually see this many of them out at this time of year," mentions Evie.

"I just realized something," he declares. Everyone looks down to face him. "Before we all came here, we all longed for a better life, and I'd say, needed something to wish on. I don't know about the rest of you, but I would always look up at stars, hoping to find something else out of life. Now, here we are." We all stay silent and think about what Chuck just said. In a way, he's right. I would usually do it as well when I was back at my old house, looking out my bedroom window when I couldn't sleep.

"Yeah, I'm always glad to be here, no matter what," says Alexa. As we look up, we take some time to observe the sky. Suddenly, an idea comes to mind. I look down before everyone else with excitement.