The Cascading Effect

Down the Rabbit Hole

'This is barely a trek. This is at best, a walk around an unkempt, uneven...garden." Complained Thomas.
"If I had known we were going out on a kindergarten excursion, I would've never agreed to this!!"

Everybody rolled their eyes at him.

This was a very Thomas thing to say. A trip would never be complete without Thomas complaining about the weather or the bad roads or the lack of availability of coffee. Only the last concern was valid. It was almost considered a bad omen if Thomas did not complain about at least a thing or two. Something bad is bound to happen if Thomas does not go through with the bickering.

"Tommy, this is the beauty of this place. The lack of human intervention. This is nature in its most rugged yet natural form. This is as close to nature as one can get." Cajoled Simon.

Now it was Thomas' turn to roll his eyes.
"If you're done with the poem ,Shakespeare, might I clarify that the problem is not how uneven it is, it's about how unchallenging the terrain is. I did not wake up at 4 am to prepare my bag pack and all these supplies for a stroll around this garden..." Thomas shot back.

"I understand that it's not 'challenging' as Thomas put it, but the spot we are going to camp at is to die for. So it's not so much about the journey but rather the destination." Arun tried to pacify the big guy.

Mia smiled in Arun's direction but quickly looked away as she caught Tessa giving her a suspicious look. Tessa raised an eyebrow which Mia very innocently ignored.
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The mood soon calmed down and they started cracking jokes about their teachers and the nightmares they got before their exams.

The trek, truly wasn't challenging at all, apart from the slightly rocky surface. The slope was a little less than entirety flat. So they messed around, pushed each other, played tricks.

Tessa was about to join them, as they decided to race to the camp site, when something sparkly caught her attention. It was a flower. And ordinary water lilly. Yet there wasn't anything ordinary about it. It could've looked as if it was sparkling because of the sunshine but there was an aura around it. A very... cold aura.Tessa could feel it but couldn't put a finger on what that feeling exactly was. It was enchanting. This was the only water Lilly in the entire creek. Tessa wanted to follow the path along the creek but that would've entailed a detour from their decided route. With a heavy heart, Tessa gave the flower one last glance, and joined the group.

Completely engrossed in their race, they hadn't even realised Tessa's absence until they reached the camp site and did not see her in eye shot.
As hard as it was for Thomas to accept, Tessa was in fact the fastest runner of them all.

Panick could be seen on Mia's face. She had already lost a sibling to these hills, she was not ready to lose another one.

Frantically she started screaming for Tessa as did the others. Mia's heart rate shot up and she started breathing heavily.

"Tesssaaaaa!!! Tesssaaaa!!! Theresa Flora Anderson!!!!!!!" They screamed.

Mia's legs felt weak as screamed Tessa's name. She lost her balance and was about to hit the ground when a hand supported her and stopped the fall.
Arun gently put his hand on her back.
"She's fine. Check your texts. She has texted in the group chat that she saw something remarkable on the way which she stopped to admire. She'll be here any minute." Arun told her, calm and composed.

Phone! Right I should've called her!
Mia was relieved but also embarrassed.

"That's okay. Happens to the best of us." Arun understood what must be going through her head and tried to make the situation less humiliating for Mia.