Iris and the List

Iris and Facing Your Fears

Bradley pulled off his swim shirt. "Here. Put this around his leg so it doesn't get infected."

"Maybe you should have given this to me earlier, too, I don't know, stop the bleeding!" Ginger said.

"How would my swim shirt stop the bleeding?" He argued.

"Guys. Knock it off. We have way more serious things to worry about. Like our impending deaths." I said.

"I'm getting tired." Ginger whined.

We had been treading water for a long time, and I was getting tired too.

How much longer before we couldn't stay above water?

"Wait! I just remembered you're supposed to float when you're stranded in the water. It helps conserve energy. Or something." Bradley said.

I began to float, and so did Bradley.

"Well you two enjoy that, since I'm attempting to hold up my dying boyfriend." Ginger said.

"We'll take turns holding him." I reassured.

If he was still alive, that is.

It started to pour rain then. We were about to be smack dab in the middle of a huge thunderstorm.

Ginger let out a yelp of surprise.

Bradley turned to face me. "Iris, you're going to have to try climbing up the rocks. I'm the only one strong enough to hold Rory, and Ginger isn't a good climber. I don't know what happened to Colton, but I do know that we can't rely on him anymore. We, more specifically you, have to act."

Climb? Up the cliffs? The cliffs that were just getting more slippery with rain?

I shook my head. "I can't do it. We'll have to take our chances down here."

Bradley laughed, but it was not a joyful laugh. "Iris, I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a giant storm just a couple miles away. And I'm not sure what happens when you're in the ocean and it gets struck by lightening, but I'm pretty sure it won't be pretty. You have to try. Isn't that what the list is about? Stepping outside of your comfort zone, figuring out who you are? You're courageous. Ginger and I know that, and so does Rory, even though he's not awake right now. We believe in you. Now it's time for you to believe in you."

He was right. We had sort of lost the original purpose for the list, somewhere along the way.

"That was quite a speech. You should be a professional speech writer." I said.

He shook his head, but I saw a hint of a smile on his face.

"So do you rehearse these speeches of yours? Or just improvise them?" I asked.

I was hoping to distract him.

"I'm an improviser, but wait, you're supposed to be climbing! Go!"

I sighed and swam over to the cliffs. I grabbed onto a piece of the cliff and pulled myself up.

"You're doing fine." Ginger said.

I grabbed onto another piece, and continued to climb. I put one foot above the over, and kept going. At any moment, I could slip off the cliff and plunge into the water. I could hit my head, or slice one of my arteries open on the rock. I could be struck by lightening. So many bad things could happen to me up there. But I had to keep on going.

I turned my head to look down at them. It had gotten foggy, so I could just barely make out their shapes.

"You're doing great Iris!" Ginger cheered.