The Outside (#wattys2016)

The Journey

     Once I had finally found James, I pulled out a map of the Outside. There were 7 little provinces around the coastline and a big village landlocked in the middle. I showed it to James. "My guess is that the Inside would be north-west." He said. It made sense. "We should head north and follow the coastline. Then if it turns an edge we can still follow it." I replied. It was still dark out, but nearing morning was my guess. "Let's go." 

     We traveled north, making our way up the coastline. Soon, we had traveled off the map. What the we knew about the land around the Outside was next to nothing. We seemed to be traveling north-west with the land, so James was right. Every once in awhile, when we got tired, we would set up camp. I had grabbed one tent for shelter that wasn't very sturdy or good at keeping rain out but easy to pitch. We had small, short talks, quickly moving from one thing to another. We talked about everything. By the end of the day we were very close friends. 

     It was getting dark, about 7:00 I guessed. We started to pitch the tent in a small, dried out, what looked like used to be a river. I had brought down a deer for lunch, and we were both still full, so we decided no dinner was okay. The canyon was narrow and long, the perfect place to spend the night. As we arrived, we both took turns using the tent to change into a spare change of clothes. We used the river to wash out our used clothes, and lay them out to dry. Then, we made a campfire and sat down to warm up. "It's getting chilly, isn't it?" James said. "Yeah." I agreed. 

     After we talked awhile, I said: "Have you ever had theories about why the kicked us out?" He sat, deep in thought. "Yes. I think they were trying to hurt us. They must have done something to offend the government." I nodded thinking. "They weren't trying to hurt us." I told him. "They were trying to protect themselves." "Are you taking their side on this?" He insulted. "No." I said. "They're cowards." I snapped back. He asked: "How do you know all this?" This was it. I was going to tell him. "I know the truth."

     I told him what my dad had told me. The truth about why we were all Outsiders. "So you think we could change it? You think we could bring the downfall of the government?" He asked. "Yes. I think we will." I said. Soon we put out the fire and looked at the tent. "While this is... Awkward." He said to me. I knew what he meant. "Let's just ignore it." I replied. We both agreed. The tent was fairly large, big enough for two people, so we decided to get to bed. We had a big day tomorrow. 

"Goodnight, Mia" "Goodnight, James."