Friend Me Not!

Pond Paradise

Amanda POV

I woke up to cheerful birds singing in the trees. At my feet I saw Hope, she was sleeping peacefully. Elizabeth was sleeping too. I was the first one awake. Sitting up I stretched and yawned. I got up and and went for my bag, pulled out a water bottle. I was about to take a drink when I noticed it was empty. I sighed then shrugged taking out another bottle. This was also empty. I raised my eyebrows and looked inside the bag. All the water bottles were empty. Elizabeth was the only other person that kept water bottles. I sneaked over to her and grabbed her bag from beside her. She rolled on her blanket but didn't wake up. I breathed out a breath that i didn't know I was holding and opened her bag. The bottles she had in her bag were empty too. I sighed and placed the bag back next to her. I needed water. My mouth was extremely dry from just waking up. If only there was a river near by, I wished. Well, I can never be sure if I don't go look, I thought. I smiled at how smart I was, grabbed my jacket and bag, and headed off into the woods.

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It hadn't been long before I heard a river. I smiled a broad smile then ran to the sound. Since we had been climbing up the mountain I hadn't even thought that there may be a small valley near by. There was a clearing where the trees split. I stepped out of the forest into this clearing and my jaw dropped. Before me, was a flowing waterfall and calm pond. The pond was surrounded by flowers of all kinds. They were beautiful and elegant. I walked slowly to the pond and looked at the water. It was perfectly clear, you could even see the bottom. This entire place felt like a dream, Like someone had taken this place right out of a movie. The scenery was amazing. I put down my backpack and grabbed the water bottles. I filled them all up with the crystal clear water and stuffed them back into my backpack. I stared at the water longingly. Ever since I had killed that deer with Elizabeth I felt dirty. I looked around to see if anyone had followed me took off my jacket and then dunked myself, clothes and all, into the water.

The water was refreshing and cool, not cold but cool. It was perfect. I ran my fingers through my hair and tried to scrub all the grossness off my shirt and jeans. It felt so nice. I washed my face and continued to try to get myself clean. Eventually I stopped scrubbing myself and just laid there, floating, watching the wind blow the trees leaves. It was probably only about 1 hour but it felt like I had been floating for days. It was so calm and peaceful, I never wanted to leave but I knew that Hope and Elizabeth would be awake by now and would be missing me. I sighed and slowly got out of the water. I stood in the sun for a little to dry myself then grabbed my jacket and backpack and ambled into the forest.

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I walked for what seemed like half an hour but I knew that it had only taken me about 10 minutes. That's weird, I thought Didn't I see that bush and stump three minutes ago? Then it hit me like a million bricks. I was going in circles!! I face palmed and looked around. None of this looked familiar to me. UGH! How could I have been so stupid?! Why didn't I mark my way? I sighed and continued walking in another direction.

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It had been hours since I had my realization. I looked all around me but I knew that I had seen it before. I slid down a tree and sat on the floor, looking all around me. It was about 3:00 in the afternoon which meant that Hope and Elizabeth had noticed I was gone and were probably getting worried. I took a deep breath then stood up again. I searched around me and looked for some place that I hadn't been. I spotted a place that looked promising and walked into the dense forest, hoping, praying, that this will be the right path.

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I was sulking, staring at the ground, when suddenly I was a trail of footsteps. I perked up and looked closer at them. They were MY footprints! A broad smile spread across my face as I looked up further on the ground to see that they were leading into a clearing. The smile stayed on my face as I ran towards the clearing. I broke through the dense forest, pushing back tree branches and jumped into the clearing. I looked around and my smile slowly faded. There was no one there. The sky thundered and raindrops started to fall, slow at first then pounding down on my body. If there were any footprints left by them, they had disappeared by now. I turned and kicked a tree, they probably went out looking for me. I wish I could kick myself for being so stupid and leaving without telling them. I pushed my back up to a tree and slid down it sitting on the mud that had been created by the rain. I closed my eyes and raised my head to the sky, letting the cold droplets fall on my face. I heard a rustling sound coming from in front of me and I opened one eye to see what it was. Both my eyes went wide, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

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