The Boy Who Made Flowers Sing

23 | Sunrise

Andreas got up excitedly and made his way out of the tent, careful not to wake anyone up. The milky moon was still out and the sky was a navy blue, but the sun would be rising soon and Elena needed to see it. 

He walked over to her tent.

"Elena," He whispered.

She didn't say anything.

"Elena," He said a bit louder this time.

He waited a couple of seconds. He had no choice but to slightly unzip the tent. He felt inappropriate about it, but he had to get her up. When he looked inside, he saw that Elena wasn't there. He frowned and looked around outside the tent.

"Elena," He said louder, trying not to wake anyone up.

Andreas walked around the campsite looking for her. He couldn't find her anywhere. He jogged into the forest and called out her name a couple of times. Andreas began to panic as he looked around for her. He came across a stream that had rocks protruding out of its surface. He figured Elena went across. He pulled up the bottoms of his sweatpants and quickly bolted across the stream splashing water against his legs, his heart pounding against his chest. Where was she? 

He made it across the stream and called out her name again. He didn't hear an answer. There was another smaller forest up ahead and Andreas began to run, his windbreaker cutting through the breeze as he did so.

"Elena!" He shouted.

Andreas felt nauseous. Where would she have gone? He made his way deeper into the forest, circumnavigating around dense trees and occasionally calling out her name. He turned in a circle, looking closely in all directions of the forest. He annoyingly slapped at the spider web he had gotten himself tangled with and kept jogging. He exited the forest onto the other side into an open valley. He called out her name again and felt his mouth dry up in concern.

"Elena!" He called again. 

Suddenly, he saw a figure standing atop a hill looking out at the sea. Andreas relaxed when he saw Elena with her wavy hair blowing in the wind and her hands in her jacket pockets, enjoying the scenery. Elena heard him approaching from behind and smiled.

"Thank goodness you're okay!" Andreas said, putting his hands on his hips and catching his breath.

"I'm sorry," Elena said when he saw how concerned he looked. "I didn't know you were looking for me this early. I thought everyone was still asleep?"

"They are," Andreas said, standing beside her. "I just needed to find you."

"Why?" Elena asked.

"I wanted you to watch the sunrise," Andreas smiled. "But, it looks like you're a step ahead of me."

"Look," Elena said, pointing to a distant side of the island.

Andreas frowned. "What is it?"

"Look closer," Elena said, still pointing at the object in the distance.

Andreas squinted so he could get a better look.

"I don't see anything. All I see is grass and more cliffs."

"You don't see the deer?"

Elena realized she was hallucinating.

"Nevermind," Elena said. "I...I thought I saw something."