Escaping to the valley

(Chapter 3: Seb(Ash)tian & Willow (Ann))

(A few days later)

"Come. On. ALREADY!" I thought, swinging my axe at a big tree stump, and feeling like my arms were about to give out.

"Hey, what's up?" I heard someone say, as my sweaty hands accidentally let go of the axe, and sent it flying.

I then heard a loud "AH!" and then a thud.

I was scared to look behind me, thinking I might have just killed someone, but I did anyway.

As I did, I saw Sam, sitting on the ground, looking like he just saw his whole life flash before his eyes, and the axe was stuck in the ground, a few feet behind him.

I quickly grabbed my notebook that was sitting next to the stump I was trying to chop, and ran over to him,messily scribbling "I'm SO sorry!" while running.

I then showed him the notebook, feeling horrible for what I just did.

"Yoooo! That felt like something out of the matrix! I could have died... But that was SO COOL!" He said with a smile, while looking at where the axe had landed, and then back at me.

"At least he's okay..." I thought, wiping sweat off my forehead, then helping him get back on his feet.

"So, what are you doing here, Sam?" I wrote after grabbing my axe from where I flung it.

"Oh, nothing much. Just figured someone should check in on ya since it's been a few days since anyone's seen you, and Seb never really told me what happened after he brought you home that night, other than the texts that were sent about that notebook. I kinda figured that you at least had to still be alive. Otherwise, why would you need the notebook?" Sam said with a shrug.

"Wow. So Sebastian was just gonna let everyone assume I was dead... Nice." I thought, going back to the stump I was trying to at least put a dent in.

"Uh... Y'know that axe ain't gonna work on that stump, right?" Sam asked, pointing at the stump that's been getting beaten senseless for about half an hour.

I just paused for a bit, looked at the stump, then at Sam, then dropped my axe, almost making it land on my foot, if I wasn't careful, then just sat on the stump with my head in my hands.

"I've been hitting that thing for HOW LONG NOW?!" I thought, feeling exhausted.

"Heh. Maybe someone should have mentioned that to you sooner." Sam said, rubbing the back of his neck.

I just gave him a thumbs up, before I suddenly felt my cell phone go off in my pocket.

I quickly picked it up, before Sam said "If you're busy, I could go, and we could talk later."

I paused, then quickly wrote "I don't mind if you stay, but I'll be a little preoccupied with texting a friend of mine." to which he just nodded, and sat next to the stump I was sitting on.

(Text chat)

Frog_Wizard420🪄🐸🚬: hey, ann! sorry i haven't had a lot of time to talk. i've been a little busy with some stuff.

🔇🇳🐝🤠: Oh, hey Ash! Same. I've had a lot of farm work to do, and trying to get to know people in my new town is kinda a pain.😒

Frog_Wizard420🪄🐸🚬: ew. meeting new people.🤢

🔇🇳🐝🤠: IKR?! Having to deal with new people, and having social anxiety, and selective mutism is so difficult!😓 Also, my house sucks, and the bed I have to sleep on is basically a table.

Frog_Wizard420🪄🐸🚬: living the dream, huh?😆

🔇🇳🐝🤠: Yeah, totally.😆