Our Darkest Memories

~ Lost Memory

7 weeks before forgetting

I swear trees and I have a horrible relationship.

They always seem to pick me as a target for whatever they like. The number of splinters I've had in my hands is already enough to build a completely new tree. For some reason, they always seem to drip resin on my hands whenever I've just washed them. When it rains, I can magically never find a tree that can function as a shelter.

And don't get me started on the roots...

Blaze and Raiden never seemed to have that problem. Even worse, trees seemed to be Raiden's best friends.

Telling us how he had learned to climb trees and sleep in them, he jumped over a root sticking from the ground. Blaze followed his example and made it seem as if it didn't take any effort. Me, however, I stumbled when I didn't lift my foot high enough.

I cursed under my breath, trying to keep my balance and listening to Raiden's story at the same time.

Walking in the woods always had its advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, it meant staying out of sight of any curious and greedy adults who would love to hand in some kids in exchange for money. On the other hand, it meant walking on long and overgrown trails like the one we were walking on.

At that moment, stumbling at every step I took, the disadvantages were in my opinion overshadowing the advantages.

Raiden and Blaze seemed to have noticed my mood and even though they tried to cheer me up in the beginning, they quickly realized that it would be a better idea to just stay a little away from me. So, they were walking ahead of me having a conversation while I only listened to them. Once in a while, one of them would look behind to see if I was still following. It was fine by me.

In my head, I was calculating how long this walk was going to take when a branch that I hadn't seen before painfully scratched my cheek. I immediately rubbed the place that it hit and loudly exclaimed a curse word. Raiden turned around to see if I was okay and raised one of his eyebrows.

'You OK?' he mouthed from a distance.

I started walking again while rubbing my cheek. To answer his question, I shrugged my shoulders and gave him an assuring look after giving him a thumbs up.

His eyes shot to something a little before me and I still heard him yell, "Morgan, watch ou-"

But he was too late, and I tumbled yet again over a root that stuck out of the ground, only this time, my brain didn't register it being there, and my hand was occupied rubbing my face.

So there I was, lying face down sprawled on the floor.

I swear I hate trees.

I heard Blaze and Raiden walking in my direction and asking if I'm okay, but I was more focused on the stinging in my left hand.

Sitting up straight, I looked at the cut that was covering the palm of my hand. It seemed more wide than deep, so it didn't give me the impression that it would be a big issue. The only thing that made me worry a little was the amount of blood flowing from it and the dirt around the cut.

"You okay?" Blaze asked.

"Yeah, just needs cleaning." I held up my hand to show her, after which I pulled myself from the ground with my other arm.

Already turned in a way that suggested he wanted to grab the necessary gear, Raiden mentioned it needed to be bandaged.

"I can handle it myself."

He stood still and raised one of his eyebrows. "Yeah, but you don't have to. And also-" He motioned with one hand at me. "-that would take pretty long considering you would have to do it with one hand."