Little patches of sunlight speckled across the ground from the fluttering leaves in the trees. A brook gently flowed beside the path, reflecting the brilliant blue of the sky above. Just coming into view a way down the trail, strolling up the hill, came a girl who could not have been older than 12. She continued aimlessly along the path, but after going a short way decided to stop beside the brook. The girl sat on the soft green grass, taking off her shoes so she could dip them in the clear, cool water. As the water streamed softly over her feet she felt her mind clear and relax, now she was able to think clearly about what she would do next.
2 Hours Previously
‘Hey, Naomi!’ Exclaimed a girl gleefully.
She appeared to be about 12, and was eagerly trying to get the attention of her older sister, Naomi, who was trying her hardest to ignore her.
‘Naomi!’ She tried again.
‘What do you want?!’ Naomi snapped.
‘Let’s play hide-and-seek!’ Responded her sister, unfazed.
‘No, Sarah. Now leave me alone.’ Said Naomi.
‘Come on! Just one game?’ Sarah tried.
‘Fine. But only if you promise you’ll stop bugging me.’ Naomi conceded.
‘Yay! Your ‘It’’ Sarah giggled as she ran off through the trees.
Naomi, thinking that her sister wouldn’t go very far, sat down on a bench and listened to her music, she supposed she would be rid of her sister for about 15 minutes before Sarah worked out she wasn’t coming to find her.
Sarah crouched down behind a tree, she could feel its rough bark against her back. In her rush to find a hiding spot, Sarah had run a long way, it was only after a good 10 minutes had passed that she began to contemplate going back and finding her sister. She got up tentatively, scanning the forest for a sign of her sister’s conspicuous red raincoat, but Sarah couldn’t see her anywhere so she headed back in the general direction which she had come.
Thirty Minutes Later
‘Sarah?’ Naomi called, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.
‘Sarah? You win! You can come out now!’
Naomi waited for a response, or a rustle of footsteps in the undergrowth, anything that would tell her where her sister was.
‘Sarah, please.’ Naomi called desperately.
No reply. There was only one option, she pulled out her phone and dialled 000.
Sarah had been walking around for a long time, she was sure she hadn’t run that far. Nothing looked familiar anymore, but she kept walking. She was certain that she would eventually find a path. Sarah figured her best hope was to find another tourist who could help her, so she kept on walking, whistling her favourite song to keep her spirits up.
Now
Sarah paddled her feet in the cool water of the brook. She hadn’t come across a single person along the path, she even tried calling out a few times, but if anyone was there they didn’t reply. Sarah wondered how long it had been since she had last seen Naomi, was it two hours? Three? She lifted her gaze from the swirling water to the small gravelly peak that rose out of the trees, perhaps if she could get to the top she could see the path she had come from. It was worth a try, she decided. So she headed off to the foot of the hill.
When she reached the foot however, she saw that the slope was made of shingle, it reminded Sarah of the way they stacked apples at the grocery store on top of each other in a pyramid, if you took an apple from the bottom, all the apples would fall down. As an experiment, she picked up a pebble, stood well back, and then threw it into the middle of the slope. A few pebbles rolled down, but the slope was largely undisturbed. Carefully, she decided to take a small step onto the slope. Sarah could feel the pebbles move under her feet, she waited until she felt steady, then took another small step and balanced. More confident now she took yet another step, higher this time. Sarah was getting far up the hill when suddenly a rock came loose unexpectedly, and she went tumbling down the hill, pebbles rolling after her.
Naomi sat in a gift shop café on the edge of the forest, the search and rescue team had told her to wait there while they looked for Sarah. The woman working behind the counter brought out a free hot chocolate, she was looking after Naomi while they were looking for her sister. She wondered how angry Sarah would be when she got back, would she ever forgive her for such a cruel trick. But in the meantime there was nothing for Naomi to do except to watch a Japanese tourist bus pull up, all the travellers piled out of the bus stretching their legs, then they filed into the gift shop. She watched them buy little souvenirs and stuffed kangaroos, trying to keep her mind off everything else that was happening.
Distractedly, Naomi ripped up paper serviettes. The tour guide was chatting animatedly to the waitress, while the tourists grabbed fistfuls of postcards and snow domes. She didn’t hear what they said, but they were talking about her sister.
‘How could the world just go on while Sarah was missing?’ Naomi thought.
‘Thank heavens, they’re finally leaving. ‘
The tour guide addressed the group, they were on their way out the door when, with soft footsteps and murmuring quiet words in Japanese, three ladies broke from the group and hugged her briefly and comfortingly. Naomi was so touched she could only cry.
As far as Sarah could tell, she hadn’t broken anything. She brushed the pebbles off, and tried to sit, she knew she would be covered in bruises. She didn’t like being in the shadow of the hill anymore, so she tried to get up and go back over to the path. However, as soon as she put pressure on her left foot, her knee buckled and pain shot up her leg from her ankle. She decided to stay put for the moment. She wondered what Naomi was doing, was she worried about her? Sarah wished there was some way she could tell her she was ok.
It was then that she spotted something through the trees, it looked almost like Naomi’s red raincoat, could it be?
‘Naomi?’ She called.
‘Hello, is someone there?’ A voice called back.
It was definitely not Naomi’s voice, she saw someone coming towards her in a bright orange uniform, trying to work out where the sound had come from.
‘I’m over here, near the hill!’ She called out.
The rescuer scanned the area around the hill until he saw Sarah, sitting in a pile of pebbles.
‘Don’t worry,’ He called.
‘I’m from the search and rescue team, we’re going to get you back to your sister.’
‘Thank you.’ She said, relieved that at last she was safe.
Once the man reached her he asked if she was hurt. She told him about her ankle. He radioed the rest of his team, telling them that he had found her.
‘Ok,’ he said.
‘Let’s get you back.’
20 Minutes Later
‘You’re really not angry?’ Naomi said, trying to understand.
‘No, I’m safe now, that’s all that really matters.’ Sarah said.
‘But this is all my fault.’ Naomi replied, ashamed.
‘Well… maybe if you do some of my chores sometimes, I can forgive you.’ Sarah giggled.
‘Sure!’ Naomi said.
They both hugged each other and breathed a sigh of relief.
