Preknowings: Success Always Fails (PUBLISHED ON AMAZON)

Arrival At Camp

The boat ride was supposed to be four hours long. Pauline and I woke up and went down to the kitchen to get food. Ralph was in there eating anything he could find. Even after we left, he didn't come back up. I was so bored. Soon after, we went back to the lofts and laid down on our beds. I got out my phone and turned it on. "Crap," I said, "Only twenty percent of battery left." "Hmph," Pauline grunted in return. I rummaged through my bookbag to find my solar charger. It was all the way in the bottom under all the heavy stuff. I plugged it into my phone. At least it still worked. I went to the home screen and tapped on my favorite game, "Geometry Dash." I was on the fourteenth level, so I decided I would try that for a while. Finally, I beat it. Pauline was asleep, so I just went up to the deck. Right as I got up through the hatch, I was drenched with a torrent of freezing saltwater. I looked up. The sky had blackened, and rain was pouring down in buckets. The waves suddenly got huge, and the boat rocked unsteadily. A flash of lightning blinded me for a second, followed by a loud crack of thunder. More lightning. Suddenly, in the bright white light, I saw a silhouette of a man standing at the ship's wheel. I trudged over, near to him. Unexpectedly, he swiftly turned around. He wore a sailor's cap and an eye patch. A burned-out cigar was clenched between his teeth. He had a horrid look on his face. I jumped with fright at the sight of him.

"Whadda you want?!" he yelled over the storm. "Who are you?" I yelled back. "I'm Captain Dempsey!" he shouted as a massive wave crashed over the small boat. I nodded at him and went back down the ladder through the hatch. I ran through the hall, dripping water everywhere as I went. I went and shook Pauline awake. "Birche, what, what? What is it?" She asked, still groggy from sleep. "There's a storm outside! It's huge! You've gotta see it!" As if on cue, the boat crashed around violently. I practically dragged Pauline out of the room. Full of energy, I climbed the ladder towards the deck. Pauline trudged up after me. I gave her my hand and pulled her up the rest of the way.

Immediately, she slipped and fell on the slick deck, nearly falling overboard. She screamed helplessly. "Pauline!" I shouted. "Birche! Help!" She yelled in reply. I dove across the deck to save her, but I was too late. She had fallen overboard. I was in shock. I didn't know what to do. Suddenly, her hand shot up and gripped the railing.

It felt like a lead ball had been lifted off of my chest. "Pauline!" I shouted again. I lunged over the railing and grabbed her wrist tightly. By now, Captain Dempsey was running towards us. He grabbed my waist so hard it hurt. But with one big pull, both Pauline and I were standing on the deck once again. We thanked the captain and went back to our lofts and dried off with blankets. I tried to calm her down, but she kept shaking and crying. I put my hand on her shoulder, but she threw it off. "Get away from me!" She yelled, her voice breaking. "Pauline, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought you up there. I feel terrible." "You should! I almost died!" "But you didn't. I grabbed your hand. I was just about to pull you up but then Captain Dempsey did it because he thought I couldn't!" "Well," she said, a bit more calm, "We can't change anything now." "Right. It's in the past. It's over. Let's just forget about it." I explained as I sat down beside her and put my arm around her neck. "So do you forgive me?" I asked hopefully. "I forgive you." She laid her head on my shoulder and I relaxed. "I really like you, Pauline Martin." I said. "I really like you, too, Birche Eliot."

In less than thirty minutes, we were in Maryland. We were sent to a nearby helicopter, then flew to the nearest place to camp we could go without being noticed by the Chinese. We said goodbye to Middleton, Williams, Charles, and Captain Dempsey and set off. It was a long walk to the camp. We had to be as quiet as possible to not make the Chinese suspicious. Our camp was just a tiny clearing inside a thick green canopy of trees. Beyond that, voices could be heard yelling back and forth at each other, but we couldn't understand anything they were saying. About a minute later, Ralph, Pauline, and I were already setting up. We didn't have a tent, but even if it did rain, the canopy was so thick that it would keep us dry. We were told that we were not permitted to build a fire, that it would 'draw the attention of the enemy,' and we couldn't talk out loud either, 'only whisper,' Charles had instructed. And we did. We unloaded our backpacks and took a walk, exploring the woods, trying to be as quiet as possible, of course. Later, Ralph got tired, so he went back to camp. "One week?" I whispered, "Here? I can't imagine it." We went back to our camp and ate dinner. "So," Pauline said quietly, "we need to gather as much information as possible about the Chinese. By observing."

Pauline and I were going to sneak to the edge of the forest, closest to where the Chinese camp was. We would watch their every move and try to understand each of their conversations. This would all be done after midnight. Everyone would take shifts on watch while the other two slept. We decided Ralph would take the first shift. Soon enough, our plan was put to action. Ralph stood on his sleeping bag, eyes wide open. Pauline and I climbed into our own sleeping bags and went to sleep. In the middle of the night, I awoke to a distant cracking noise. I looked over to where Ralph should have been keeping watch, but he was fast asleep atop his sleeping bag. Only the light of the moon shone down through the trees above. Another distant crack. I turned around. Fire. A torch! The Chinese were going to find us. Frantically, I woke Pauline and Ralph up. Panicked, we scrunched up our sleeping bags and hid them behind a thick tree trunk. We got on our backpacks and scrambled behind the trunk too.

Suddenly, Pauline started rummaging through her backpack. "What are you looking for?" I whispered through clenched teeth. Pauline pulled out her grappling hook gun. "This," She answered proudly. "I should've thought of that!" I scolded myself quietly. Ralph reeled. "Woah, don't point that thing at anyone!" he shouted. "Ssshhh!!!" Pauline and I shushed him at the same time. "Hop onto my shoulder," I instructed Ralph. He did. Pauline and I held onto each other and the grappling hook gun. She shot it to one of the highest branches in the tree, then pressed the RETRACT button. Up we went and landed on the branch below the one that Pauline had shot the hook to. The hook sprang into place on the top of the gun. "Cool," Ralph admitted. The torchlight appeared and disappeared among the trees. It seemed like hours before the Chinese army found our camp. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but they gestured to the area of ground where we had been sleeping. Luckily, none of the men looked up. Or else we probably would have been busted. By now, it was dawn. Back at home, the rooster down the street would've crowed. I missed that rooster right now. But now was not the time to think about roosters. Now was the time to worry, to be scared. But I didn't feel any of that. My feelings were numbed. Probably because if they weren't, it would have been too much for me to handle.

The torch in the group of men had been put out due to the light of sunup. They had guns with them. It seemed like they were looking for something. Perhaps that something was us.