Grayscale

-Chapter 4-

"Reach into your backpack, and you'll find something of importance," Sierra told me earlier in the morning during first period. "But do not look until the end of the school day."

This statement had sparked a curiousity in my mind that burned intensely throughout the whole day. My hands would be itching to dig around in my backpack and during lunch, I finally caved in. Looking into my backpack, I almost immediately give up hope. My backpack is a chaos, a tornado of papers and pens and notebooks. Finding whatever Sierra put in there will be impossible unless I organize my papers. However, my curiousity quickly trumps my laziness, and grudgingly stuff papers into the appropriate binders. A rolled up paper catches my eye, and I pick it up.

On it, a person had scrawled in black, ink pen:

Follow the trail of spring's lightly dappled trees,

Lo and behold, there you'll find me.

If change is the only thing that you do seek.

Follow the spotted back of salmon- silver and sleek.

For I hold the answers to your mysterious woes,

You will find your personality and character grow.

On the grass filled fields, there I will lie.

Waiting for you to read my clues and drop by.

I stare at the paper. This must be what Sierra had slipped into my backpack. I'm supposed to follow trees and salmon to find her? Why did she assume I would find her. Crazy as she was, she had one thing right. I am hungry for change, and I will do anything to find that. Sierra seems like a good place to start. After all, she is already a lot different than what people percepted her to be. With her million-mile-per-hour mouth, strong opinions, and her sometimes distant eyes, she was mysterious, smart, and I am willing to take my chances with her. I get into my car and take off, the clues swimming in my mind.

I know by lightly dappled trees, she is referring to the forest nearby because there aren't trees plural anywhere in this city besides the forest. I rev my engine to a stop, and it slowly splutters to a dull sleep. I'm glad that my family used to always camp here on Saturdays. I know the trails well, but not like the back of my hand. Heading over the trail sign immediately, I look for a trail that says River Bend Trail because it's right next to the river.

As I walk alone in the forest, I listen closely for river sounds. Finally, I hear what sounds like river sprinting over rocks and stones, the splash of water on water, rippling. Excited, I push on forward, stumbling over tree roots and panting, but at last, the sight of the clear river water sparkling underneath the sun greets me. I make my way over to the river, panting and heaving like a fish on dry land. I dip my finger into the river but recoil back quickly, the water colder than I expected. Peering into the river, I see no sign of salmon life. The river continues swirling past me, angry at an intruder.

I take out my iPhone and tap Safari. Into the search engine, my freezing finger types in the question that had me worried most of all- were there even salmon in this river? The answer was short, simple, but suffice. No.

Disappointed, I collapse onto the pebble-covered ground, my pants growing damp on the wet coolness of the rocks. A flash of pink catches my eye on the way down. I look ahead, and sure enough, pink, silver spotted salmon are painted onto the rocks. I follow them, abandoning and completely forgetting about the trail. Follow the spotted back of salmon-silver and sleek. That was the clue. I am literally walking on the backs of painted salmon, which will inevitably lead me to her. The last time I felt this excited following instructions was when I was coloring in worksheets in kindergarten. The river turns away, and the salmon are no more. It does not keep following the river. I take my chances and walk straight ahead. I worm around the tall redwood trees and squeeze past tight spaces, and all of a sudden I halt to a stop. I reach an opening in the forest, a quiet meadow that is overgrown with grass. Fallen trees and stumps lie everywhere, but in the center of it all is the back of a girl. Her blond hair falls past her shoulders, and she is a sits like a frozen image. Sierra.

I make my way over to her, my ankles itching from the grass. As I approach, she starts talking. "Took you long enough."

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Joining forces of nature. A place where man-made products cease to exist." She glances sideways at me. "That means away with your phone." I grip onto my phone tightly as she continue talking. "I'm going to show you worlds, Marley Aspen. And you're going to decide which world you belong in." She falls on her back, staring at the puffy clouds floating in the sky. "But the world you belong in and the world you want to be in are two very different things."

I believe her. You don't always get what you want. There is a part of me that is enthralled by Sierra's concepts and confidence, and how she takes everything in stride. But there is also a part of me that doubts her promise of being able to show me new worlds. Could she really offer whole new worlds? One I didn't hide in or have to feel like another shade or speck of gray in the whole grayscale painting?

"Not new worlds exactly." Sierra adds, as is reading my mind. "Just different ways of escape. They are so similar, they're almost the same."

I nod, hoping that she will be able to do this.

"I will show you worlds, Marley Aspen, I promise."

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Hey guys! I changed my book to Grayscale. Sorry if there is any confusion. Thank you for the votes and comments and reads!

<3 C. Augustine