[COMPLETE] As Uri watched his parents die, life would never be the same again. Of course, that would be the case for any child who lost their parents. For Uri, it was especially true as his new guardian wasn't human.
To make matters even more comp...
The young family had thoroughly enjoyed the relatively short hike, husband and wife both being enthusiasts for the outdoors. It was only natural, considering Allan was a geologist and Emily a botanist. He climbed on and played with rocks for a career and she thrived in the trees and plants, always seeing in them what Allan saw in the rocks. They were setting that same love for nature into their son, who was already able to hike fairly long distances, longer than many adults, at only four years old. His short legs made it difficult for him to keep up, but his endurance was impressive.
They had made it to their destination for this hike just before lunch. Camp had been set up and Emily had begun making their lunch, while Allan collected firewood. The hike wasn't an extremely long one, which seemed odd to them that people didn't come to the place in droves. It was breathtaking, even if there was a bit of rocky terrain to get over.
They had come up a shallow rise to find themselves on the top of a cliff overlooking a wide bowl shaped caldera. Even from the top, the portion they could see was lined with an impressive variety of trees and shrubs, although they looked oddly different from above. Emily would get a better idea of that, once they made it down into the bowl the next day.
"Uri, come away from there before you fall in," called Uri's mother, as he was getting close to the cliff's edge.
They had established camp on the top of the cliff, intending to make the descent into the bowl the next day. It would likely take them hours to get down.
Uriah Sampson Price was very much like his parents, always curious and always exploring. He also didn't seem to have any fear of danger, much to the dismay of both of his parents.
"Honey, I found something incredible," Allan said, bounding into camp like a child with a new toy.
"I hope it was a stash of firewood," she quipped, an ironic smile playing on her lips. He paused for a bit, clearly processing her remark.
After a moment, he shook it off like an annoying bug. "There's a path down into the bowl. It looks easy," he exclaimed.
She was truly impressed with this news, even if it wasn't the desired firewood. She had done many climbs in her life, some very difficult, but she didn't look forward to trying it with Uri along. This was to be his first descent, if it happened at all.
"Did you find firewood," she asked, trying to determine if they were going to have a comfortable evening or not. Although it wasn't yet winter, the nights were getting cool, especially at their current elevation. They were still below the tree line, but they were getting a bit high.
"Oh yeah, I found some," he replied, his face twisted in thought.
"Where is it," she asked, knowing she was nagging.
Sometimes she had to though, or Allan would forget important things, like the firewood...or his pants.
Emily smiled as she remembered how he had actually forgotten his pants one morning and went to work in his boxers. Everyone in the geology department knew him well and had a spare pair ready, thankfully. That was early in their marriage, and, at the time, she didn't like thinking of how they were already prepared for that.
It wasn't that he was dumb, quite the contrary. It was just that, he was so focused on what was in front of him, he lost sight of many other things. Actually, most other things. He was the stereotypical absent-minded professor.
She smiled at him, as he ran back off into the woods. Moments later, he came back carrying a large armful of dried wood. Most of it was already of a good size for them to make a fire with.
"Uri, get away from the edge, please," she called to her son, yet again, but a little louder and with a little more force.
He turned to look and an expression took root on his face that caused his mother's heart to stop. She watched helplessly as Uri lost his footing and tumbled backward over the ledge.
"Allan," she screamed, already running after her baby boy. She almost went over the edge after him, but Allan was there to stop her.
"We'll get him," he promised, his confidence a balm for her. There were times like that where his usually flighty and scatter brained demeanor vanished, like a wisp of steam in dry air. In those times he became something rock solid, as if he could go and conquer the world.
Looking over the edge, there was no sign of their son. The only logical solution was that he had gone all the way down. Neither parent wanted to think about the likely ramifications of that.
"Grab your pack and let's go," he commanded.
Only a few minutes later they were almost to the path he had found heading down into the bowl. She had hastily written a note and left it at their camp, just in case something happened to them. That was one of those extra safety precautions they had picked up somewhere during their many adventures together. Allan ingeniously placed a stick over the top of the ledge with a brightly colored piece of cloth hanging from it, the base packed with rocks to hold it in place.
Although the path wasn't really a path, more of a slide that had become packed over time, it was much easier than a technical descent down the face of the bowl. As they worked their way down, the winds blowing through the bowl buffeted them viciously, as if they were being discouraged from their trek.
Finally making the bottom of the bowl, they made their way to where Uri most likely should have been. Neither paid really close attention to the misshapen trees and plants on the Bowl's floor. Considering Emily's love of plants and trees, that was a testament to her concern for her son.
Looking up at the top of the bowl as they went, they found their makeshift flag. Now they needed to find some sign of their fallen son.
They knew he was alive, as he wasn't on the ground under the flag. It was a short distance into the trees when they heard a faint whimpering, which the mother instinctively knew was her son. He was hurt and in that moment of recognition, she became desperate.
Much too slowly, they triangulated the sound of his pitiful cries, which were actually getting fainter the longer they took. Finally, they entered a large clearing, and saw the object of their frantic hunt. Uri was sitting on the ground, nursing a scraped knee. They could tell he had several other scrapes and bruises, as well, but everything actually looked to be alright, from the distance they were from him.
They both bolted toward him, and before they went twenty feet, the ground opened up in front of them. Unable to stop in time, they plummeted into the hole.
Uri watched as his Momma and Daddy were swallowed by the Earth. "Mommy, Daddy," Uri screamed. Running to the edge of the new ravine, he looked down and saw both of his parents barely hanging to a root.
"We love you honey," his Mommy said as her hands slipped and she fell into the fiery abyss below, his Daddy trying desperately to grab her, but failing.
Only moments later, his Daddy followed, "I love you," on his lips.
Uri sat down, crossing his legs, and stared into the lava filled crack in the Earth, tears flowing from his eyes. He knew what had happened. He'd been with them on enough adventures to know the result of falling like that, even if his mind wasn't mature enough to truly understand death.
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** Thank you for continuing to read this story. As with Chapter 1, please leave comments to let me know of any problems you find, and please vote. Thanks so much! --OH
