Cardinal Sins

Part 3 | North

North is the frugal white winter. Mindful and contemplative. It is the wise elder, the brave buffalo.
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"Run!"

I splintered my eyes open. A pillow of light snow crunched under the running feet of campers.

There was a city of half-pulled down tent and kids shoving their unrolled sleeping bags over shoulders. Nathaniel was rocking the tops of the snow-dusted tents and whistling.

He shook the top of ours and shouted into the gallows of the dark.

"What's going on?" I asked rubbing my puffy, stinging eyes. I pulled my windbreaker on one arm and bent my hands over the snow to stumble to my feet.

"Team race to the end." His eyes peered over me, despite my trying to lean into the unzipped doorway. But, he saw the peek of Stavs bare shoulders inside the tent anyway.

"Follow the water." He mumbled before moving-on and shaking the next tent awake. I heard Stav and Phillipa roll awake and grumble a few words to each other.

I treaded away, making my own crunching imprints in the snow. Jazz and Marti had our tent unzipped and were quickly tossing their lives back into bags.

Rations, clothes, hygiene supplies all mixing together.

I packed a ball of loose snow from outside the tent. As I bent down, I saw Jazz on one side buckling her mat to the bottom of her bag.

I kneeled down and tossed my snowball strong for her face. She was so flustered when it combed the side of her neck she turned bright red and screamed. I laughed and almost fell over on the snow outside.

"Look who showed up!" Marti said sweeping the snow that fell on top of Jazz's bag and splashing it back at me. A few icy bits met my face and wiped the smile off me.

"Couldn't sleep, took a walk." I said suddenly very serious. "Come on, I don't want to lose."

"I don't want to find out what losing means." Marti threw my mostly-filled camping bag at me. I unzipped the top and shoved in the glass vial and the letter from my parents I had crumbled on the tent's ground.

Jazz finished her pack and loaded it over her child-sized shoulders. It looked like it weighed more than the mousy brown girl with bangs.

"I want to know what's at the top of the mountain." She said.
"I heard that that's where they decide who stays for the full 30 days." Marti said.

Jazz swallowed hard, watching Marti crawl around the empty room looking for lip gloss.

"Are you looking for this?" Jazz plucked the gloss from her pocket.
"I told you to stop taking from me. We are friends. Don't take things from your fucking friends or else you won't have any—and then who will care when you spew your guts everywhere."
"She's right." I said.

"Sorry." She whined. "I'm sorry. It's my favorite shade."
"Yeah, yeah." Marti said. "They are all your favorite shade, sweetie."

"I don't think I can take another 30 minutes." I said. "You know I really mean it. Whatever is on the other side of the stream, I hope it's a hot shower and a cheese Danish."

"Any Danish." Jazz dropped her head down though the tent's opening. He braids dangling upside down.

"Come on." Jazz said shaking the remaining snow off the tent. "We are the only people with their tent still up."

Marti held my arm as I started climbing off the mat. "Why don't you go?" She said brushing her perfect, bobbing curls behind her ears. "You're my friend, but you run slow."