MIZPAH, tmr | minho

𝖝𝖛𝖎𝖎𝖎. sleepover

SLEEPOVER

The mood was solemn as the Gladers walked out of the shady Deadheads and back into the blazing sun. Aurora was still clutching Alex's hand, both of their cheeks stained with dry tears.

"Everyone okay?" Alby asked, breaking the silence. Everyone looked at him, and he knew that none of them were okay — especially Alex.

"I hate these bloody crutches." Newt grumbled, "Can't wait to walk without them."

Aurora gently let go of Alex's hand and made her way over to Newt, placing a hand on his back to help him walk. "It'll take time." she said quietly, "It won't happen overnight, you know."

Newt didn't say anything in return, he just took a deep breath and slowly hobbled forward on the wooden crutches that Gally had made.

"What should we do now then?" Minho asked the group, looking around for suggestions.

They stayed quiet, thinking about the possibilities. Aurora thought she had an idea.

"How about a sleepover?" she asked, looking around the group. "We can all stay outside and sleep by the fire."

"I like it." Minho nodded, "Party in the Glade, am I right?" This was met with awkward silence. "Bunch of shuckin' party poopers you lot are."

Aurora shook her head at him; however a small smile graced her lips.

About twenty minutes later, the Gladers had set up a large fire in the middle of the Glade, with several sleeping bags and blankets set around it.

It was a calm atmosphere as the teenagers got ready for the night. The stars hung in the sky like bright diamonds, shimmering down onto the Glade and releasing tranquillity from within them.

Alby and Winston carefully handed out spare blankets and pillows to some of the Gladers who were hunched over slightly — shaking from the chill winds. Aurora was hunched over on her hands and knees, piling sticks up to make a fire. The soil and dirt caked her skin, slipping under her nails and burying themselves there.

"Go," a voice said from behind here, "I'll finish doing this."

Aurora stood up and wiped her hands on her trousers, the dust flying off in all directions. She turned around and saw Minho with an armful of sticks which he threw onto the fire with great ease. He looked at her with a smug expression.

"Smug shank." she muttered under her breath, eyeing him closely.

Because of the additional sticks that Minho added, Alby thought that there was enough wood to now light the fire. With a strike of a match, the fire was lit almost instantly, the dark sky now being painted with blends of yellow and orange.

The Gladers sat around the fire, some tucked into their blankets and sleeping bags for extra warmth that the fire couldn't provide.

Aurora was lying beside Minho, Alex, Newt and Alby who were watching the fire leap and dance, swirling into the starry sky contently.