LAST CHANCE WILL YOU SURVIVE

Decisions

I slowly removed my blindfold and saw bright lights glistening down from the weeping tree. I walked slowly up to it mesmerized. I heard leaves crunching behind me but I didn't turn around. He tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around.

"Do you like it?" He said with a smile.

I smiled and nodded my head

"The tops even better." He pointed to a ladder against the tree. we walked to the ladder and looked at him.

"Lady's first." He said bowing his head. 

I rolled my eyes and started climbing up the ladder. When I got to the top there were blankets and pillows with a picnic basket in the middle. I took off my shoes and climbed onto the blankets sitting by the picnic basket waiting for Saud. I looked up at the stars as Saud came up.

"Isn't it perfect?" He said taking off his shoes and sitting at the basket across from me. 

I nodded and looked at him.

"It's perfect. When did you have the time to do this?"

"Well, I was going to string lights on the patio but decided not to. And so yesterday morning before I got your text I strung them on the tree and used the ladder. And for the blankets and pillows, when you were waiting in the car. And the picnic basket I grabbed when I took you out here." 

I smiled and stared at him.

"So you actually kind of planned it out."

He smiled.

"Kind of."

I put my hand on the picnic basket.

"What's in the basket?"

He scratched the back of his neck.

"You're going to laugh."

I slowly opened the basket nervously and gave him a disappointed look.

"Oreos and red vines."

"It was the only thing I could get on such short notice."

I opened the red vines and threw one at Saud grabbing another.

"What was that for?"

I shrugged and laid on my back as I started to eat one. I felt eyes on me so I turned to Saud patting the ground next to me. He moved the basket away from him and laid on his back next to me. We looked up at the clear sky with the stars shining.

"I'm glad you're here with me because I think I need the talking tree."

We both stared at each other. Saud looked at me anxiously.

"Okay. What do you need to talk about?"

"Saud. I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to the tree. You're just here because I need you for it to work."

He smiled.

"Okay, I'll be right here." He said and looked back up to the sky.

"So tree, I don't know if you know but I have a friend named Saud."

Saud turned to look at me.

"And he would protect me from anything. It does get annoying, but it shows me how much he loves me. I don't know if he knows that my dad left us last year. And even though I sometimes get in fights with my mom, I love her. And she's dying. And I can't save her unless I play this game. But Saud doesn't want me to play because it's dangerous. But if I lose I die and so does my mom. But if I don't play then she just dies. So I think it will be okay because I don't think I could live in this world without my mom. I can't lose another parent. What I'm trying to say is, I want to play the game but I don't know how to tell Saud."

I kept looking at the stars scared to look at him.

"Anne. look at me."

I slowly turned to him staring into his eyes.

"I can't tell you what you can and can't do. I just want you to know that this game isn't easy. You're fighting for someone's life. And that's not easy. I get the reasons why you want to play. And It's not hard to decide what to do. But if you do decide to play then I'm playing with you. Because we made a cliché promise to figure it out together."

"Saud, I can't let you go with me." I said rolling into him and yawing. He wrapped his arms around me laying his head on mine.

"It's okay I want to. Besides you'd miss me."

I chuckled.

"I don't know about that."

"Did your arm heal?" He said looking down at me.

I lifted my arm to see if the black was gone. There were big scares up to my forearm from my wrist. Saud gently ran his fingers over them slowly.

"I think they look beautiful." He said and pulled a blanket up onto my back. I slowly closed my eyes looking at the lights getting blurry until there was nothing.

I opened slowly my eyes when I heard a humming noise. I saw that Saud was gone and decided to find him. It wasn't dark anymore but was foggy and hard to see. I went down the ladder and followed the humming.

"Saud? Is that you?" I kept walking towards the humming noise. Soon enough I came to a silhouette sitting on a rock humming by a stream.