𝑇𝑅𝐴𝑃𝑃𝐸𝐷 𝐼𝑁 𝐹𝑅𝐸𝐸𝐷𝑂𝑀

𝑇𝑊𝐸𝐿𝑉𝐸~ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑑𝑠

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After almost a week in In-Between, we had finally begun to believe in success. The tasks were not getting any easier, but the people who completed them definitely had grown. We trusted each other even more than we had in Mada, and with that came a greater sense of confidence that we were capable of reaching freedom as a group.

We were making increasing progress walking along the path in the challenge-free hours during the days (and into the nights). While having to drag ourselves along the path each day was the least of our worries in In-Between, it was still very exhausting. Being someone who had always been highly unathletic and usually despised anything that involved an excessive amount of exercise, I found the seemingly constant walking to be especially unenjoyable. However, I could tell that all my friends, even Sariah, were beginning to feel similarly to me.

Our feet had started to blister inside our poorly made school shoes just a few days into our trek. It got so bad at times that I would have to take off my shoes and walk barefoot. I assumed that Sariah was grateful that the stampede challenge was so early on in our journey, as we were all feeling increasingly sorer and slower as the days passed.

We were all very glad that Nola had remained her positive, cheerful self during even the dullest sections of the trail. Even being so young, I was fairly sure that she understood the severity of the situation that we were in to an extent, but was still by far the most unfazed by the danger that In-Between presented. One thing that had become extremely clear to me was that Nola was definitely not meant to live in Mada. She was constantly creating stories and ideas in her imagination, of which she often shared with us as we travelled. Her chattiness never irritated any of us and provided a much-needed distraction from the daunting tasks ahead. To my surprise, I noticed that Callum had been getting into the most discussions with Nola. I realized that even with the age gap between them, they're personalities were actually quite similar. Sariah and I even began to make jokes about how Callum was able to have deeper conversations with Arlo's seven-year-old sister than with his best friend himself.

During the morning of a particularly warm day, the topic that was being discussed was how long Ms. Fatima would last in In-Between. As hilarious as this conversation was, it was cut short by our desire for water. We had only been walking for a few hours, but nearly all of our water bottles had already become empty. So we made our way into the meadow to get a refill from the stream. Once we had hydrated, we decided to sit under the shade of the Navy Cherry tree to rest.

It didn't take long for Nola to feel recharged, and she soon ran off to try and find new animal friends. The rest of us laid in the grass, gazing up at the astonishingly blue sky. There wasn't a cloud in sight, and the sun's rays were soothing and bright. I could faintly hear Nola giggling in the distance, and it made me smile. I hoped that in Sarosa there would be even more creatures for Nola to play with.

Eventually, I closed my eyes and began to imagine getting to watch Nola grow up in a place where she could be who she truly was. I pictured her singing and dancing freely in the streets, pedestrians smiling and applauding her. As she grew up, she could tell made up stories to younger children, and share with us what it was really like being so young in In-Between, with only a group of teenagers to protect her.

Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream echoed through the air, interrupting my daydream. The sound had come from Nola. We sat up abruptly, the awful noise disrupting the peace we had all felt while resting. Our surroundings had changed drastically in the few minutes I had closed my eyes. I assumed my friends had done the same, as they all shared the same startled expression as I had on my face.