Insomnia Wake #Wattys2016

Chapter 16 - When Stargazing Don't Fall Asleep, Or You'll End Up With Bug Bites

The image was burnt into my mind.

It was a rainy day that cast a dark ocean blue across the landscape. My brother was driving us around as carefully as a teenager can. The footsteps of the rain on the windshield entertained and entrained me. I could've never seen what was to come.

There we were, barreling down the wet asphalt in a mechanizing block of steel, minding our own business. It was a four laned highway with a grass median: an otherwise pleasant and quick road to drive on. We came to an overhang that told us that there would be merging traffic, but that meant nothing to us as we were about to exit.

Lenard, who went by the much cooler sounding name "Arlen" in our current world, took the exit on the right and slowly slowed down. We couldn't see much in front of us as we were going over the top of a slope. We couldn't see what was right in front of us.

A confused driver came speeding up at us, going the wrong way. They had turned left to merge onto the highway at the wrong point. It was too late for both cars, and there was bound to be a collision.

I felt a jolt in the car and I focused in on what was happening as opposed to the rain, just barely catching my last glimpse of my brother. He had turned the car to the right, putting my seat in particular out of danger, but him directly in harm's way.

The two cars collided, and the left half of our car was sheared off, along with my older brother. The shards of glass and metal seemed to float in midair in front of me as time came to a standstill.

My brother was gone and replaced with a torn up hole in the car, and I would never forget the face that he made right before the impact. He was smiling. He wasn't smiling because he was about to get hit, but rather that he could do something about it. If he had tried turning the other way, I would have been hit instead, but he made the choice to not do that. He was determined and decided, and he must have been proud. That smile must have been a happy one that he could save me and let my adventure continue.

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Now, it was my turn. Tears filled my eyes as I realized the weight of my opportunity and the fact that in this world he was somehow alive. I had the chance to try and let his adventure continue, that adventure that he seemed to hold so dearly to his heart. I was completely powerless, but I was also not powerless at all.

The problem was which road to take.

I looked from my tree outpost, but I could see nothing in sight but snow and trees. I was alone in a foreign world and foreign territory. I wanted to find Ariel and Buddy, but there was no way that I could find them from such a far distance away.

Though snow was on the ground, the skies were clear, and I felt like I could see forever if I got high enough up. I remembered the strength of my muscles and how much they surpassed my earthly self. I had an idea, but it scared me. I needed to jump up into the air to see if I could spot anything.

I felt the spirit of adventure overflow from me as I took a look at the trunk of the tree I was sitting in. I carefully balanced myself and stumbled through the web of branches to the center, then took my first step upwards. I pressed down on the branch to test its integrity, and once I approved it, I let my weight settle on it. It bent down, but it did not break.

I felt a little bit of nervousness disappear. I took my next step. And my next one. Eventually I found myself safely at the top.

I looked down. I got a sensation similar to vertigo as I noticed how high up I was.

I must be like twenty feet up...

Carefully, I placed my feet on the sturdiest branches that I could find. Trying not to lose my balance, I crouched down. After I mentally prepared myself, I jumped as high as I possibly could. The branches instantly snapped as I rocketed off of them and I soared into the air. The ground seemed to shrink underneath me. I was way higher up than I anticipated, maybe even a hundred feet in the air, and I could see far off into the distance. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an obstruction from among the trees. I didn't have much time, so I quickly turned my head to get a better look at it. It looked like a village.