𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐲'𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞

48 | 𝐴 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝐴𝑤𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝐷𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚

It was too early to be riding horses, but here we were at nine in the morning.

My horse was black with beige spots and named Mildred and I was in the middle of our line. In front of me was Victor and behind me was Kayla. My eyes were blinded by the hot sun rays grazing the path. On either side of us was an aqua tainted lake below these valley of mountains. Our reflections pleasantly displayed across the waters.

"--and in conclusion, forty-three percent of marine animals have been impacted by the plastic debris," she described in front of the line, wearing a microphone that allowed the people in the back to listen through a speaker. Her voice was pronounced and I could hear it from both ends. "Us humans have degraded and ruined these ecosystems by facilitating fishing, no strict regulation and guidelines, and minimum awareness, leading to permanently damaging our health and safety as well as the animals. Plus, we are ruining these beautiful landscapes."

Georgia shone a hand out to the gorgeous lake and smiled brightly. When Mildred, the horse beneath me, paused, she bent her head and started gnawing and shredding the grass, making me roll my eyes and enjoy the view for just a little longer. I tugged softly on the reins, getting her to start walking again.

We arrived at this field as more conversations about the Earth were made. She provided facts, details, and an exhibitions of the forest, lakes, and mountains that she proved to be perfectly outside of the direct harm of human carelessness.

We parked our horses against a singular fence while Clem was teaching us how to tie the leads to the poles. We got it, or in better words, once Penelope and Sullivan got it, they went around helping. Sullivan smiled at me, but when I kissed him, he just pulled back and kept walking. I ignored it.

We hiked a distance away from the horses as Georgia gestured to several people who wore sun visors. While we were walking up to them, Clem and Georgia made adult conversation about how the workload was working and how they wanted to handle the help, Kayla joined a cluster involving Jay, Rowan, Victor, and me.

"Firework show in downtown Banff!" Kayla mentioned. "Keiona thought we should all go--"

The thought of enjoying the cute shops in town as well as seeing beautifully done fireworks made my body go light and my brain focus on only that. I yearned to go and nodded with a beaming smile.

"Sounds awesome," Jay exaggerated, nodding his head before leaping back into Rowan and apologizing under his breath, shaking off the feeling that was on him. He must've heard something we didn't...

"Yeah, I'm pumped," Victor added.

I looked up at him, scolding under my breath, "no one says 'pumped.'" My voice was low, knowing that if Sullivan saw Victor and I getting along as much as we did, he'd get mad at me. Not to mention, we had to act as casual as possible.

Victor laughed at me though, his fingers twisting onto my jean belt loop without no one knowing as he casually yanked me, making me stumble before he let go and started walking after Jay, Rowan, and Kayla who were already getting handed big nets.

"This river leads down to a place where many people throw trash. We are going to walk the edges and get as much as we can!" Georgia instructed, shouting over the volume of the river beside us. The water splashed up onto the smooth rocks lining the grass. "I'm glad you all changed your shoes before this."

We were asked to wear big rubber boots and it somehow made sense now that I was clad in them, covering my light wash jeans and nearly in contact with my big, loose pink crocheted sweater.

"Be conscientious of your time," Georgia called as we all began to diverge. "Meet back here at eleven thirty, that gives you more than an hour and a half. Grab your trash bags!" she told everyone. "These trash bags are eco-friendly, meaning they were recycled from plastics that would've burned fossil fuels, they are created to prevent the extremity of greenhouse gases." Lastly she declared, "and do not swim, you will get all sorts of diseases, that's trash for you!"