The Ring of Destiny

Chapter 4-Flipping Out at the Corpse

"GET UP!"

I bolted upright. Rodney was shaking his head.

"And you were all giggled at me for wanting to stay asleep."

"What's giggled?" I asked, standing up in the coffin unsteadily. The lid had already been lifted. We were on a beach. It was warm-very warm. It was your typical Californian beach-soft sand bleached by the sun. Low, rolling waves broke on the beach gently. The only thing was that where there should have been palm trees, there were pine trees.

"Giggled? You were mad?"

I laughed. "Nice use of the word. So it's like the word used eons ago for pissed?" (Smooth, people from eons ago. Real smooth.)

"What's that?" he asked.

"Nevermind," I said. "So where are we?"

He once again looked at me as if I were an alien. "Um, we're on a beach."

"I know that, stupid, but which beach? Where is this beach located? How far away from the plateau are we?"

Rodney gazed out to sea, remaining as silent as ever. Apparently I had offended him when I said 'stupid'. (If you're going to live with me, you gotta learn that I do stuff like that.)

"I don't know," he finally replied, sighing.

I jumped up, ruining the peacefulness that had been lingering about me as my toes squished into the warm sand. "YOU DON'T KNOW?" I yelled.

"No," he said quietly, obviously wanting me to calm down and enjoy the sound and sight of the breaking waves. (Dude, figure it out! WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOHERE AND YOU EXPECT ME TO CHILL?)

"THEN WHY DID YOU BRING US HERE? HOW DID YOU BRING US HERE?"

He stood up, a tall figure looming above me. "I am not in the mood," Rodney said curtly, walking over to his coffin, falling inside, and slamming the lid.

Oops. Another thing I've messed up. Great. (Hey, now I know I'm good at something. Sigh.) I sat down.

Where could we be? I thought. Obviously at a beach, but I really wanted to know how far away from the plateau we were.

I ran my fingers through the sand. I listened to the waves. I lay down. I looked up at the sky. And screamed, jumping up.

"RODNEY!" I yelled fearfully, tripping over my own feet trying to get up. "RODNEY!" I sprinted over to the coffin, my feet sinking into the sand and making it difficult, my progress slow. "RODNEY!" I threw open the lid of the coffin to find the corpse sound asleep. "RODNEY! RODNEY, WAKE UP! PLEASE!" Nothing. "RODNEY!!!!!" My voice ripped everything out of my throat, making it raw and parched. "PLEASE, RODNEY, WAKE UP!" I shook him. I hit him. I pinched him. Nothing. (Really? If only I had a needle......) I looked up again.

The sky was black. A huge gnarl of heavy, unwelcome storm clouds was sinking ever so slowly to the earth. It was larger than forty football fields, and took up almost the whole exspanse of my view. I could see lighting coarsing through it, twisters danced on its sides.

"RODNEY!"

It was falling faster now. A light sprinkle of rain started.

"RODNEY!"

I heard whistling noises and saw large chunks of rock falling. What was going on?

"RODNEY!"

Then the mass dropped. Literally. It plummetted to the ground, coming at me so fast that for a second I just stood there, dumbfounded. A second longer and I wouldn't have escaped. But thankfully, I tore my eyes away from the sight and threw myself into the coffin, slamming the lid on top of us. And just in time.

A huge concussion flipped the coffin into the air. I flew around inside, ramming into each wall. Rodney was STILL sound asleep. We were tousled and thrown and sunk and pushed and pulled (I could go on and on, but for time's sake, I won't) and who knows what else. I began to get nautious. My heart was beating in my throat. What was happening?

Yet another concussion vaulted us into doing sommersaults through the air.

I passed out.