𝔡𝔢𝔳𝔦𝔩'𝔰 𝔞𝔡𝔳𝔬𝔠𝔞𝔱𝔢

𝒙𝒊𝒗. 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓?

xiv, what do you hear?

––

marley sat outside, next to her girlfriend, hands interlocked, eyes closed 

"take a breath" lottie said gently as everyone inhaled deeply before breathing out 

"what do we feel?" lottie asked before mari spoke up 

"the cold, it makes my cheeks burn...but it also makes me feel, awake...like really awake" mari said, her eyes still closed before van spoke

"it makes me feel...alive" van said as akilah quietly came out and sat down in the circle, next to van 

"good...now what do we hear?" lottie asked again, her eyes still closed but she gently squeezed marley's hand 

"the wind" travis said 

"i cant hear it in the pines, it's...peaceful" van said, adding to travis's statement 

"it sounds like a whisper" akilah said, not certain 

"singing" crystal and misty said at the same time, chuckling at the coincidence 

"good, we're tuning into nature, into each other" lottie said while looking around at everyone 

"that connection is whats gonna protect us, and we need to nurture, especially now" lottie said, bobbing her head lightly 

"a new life is coming, and we cant wait to meet him" lottie said, looking at marley with a tiny smile and gently squeezing her hand 

"we cant wait to meet him" everyone said in unison..except for marley, who just stared at shauna who was looking at them from behind a tree

marley was taken out of her thought when she felt misty grab her hand 

"okay, hold hands" lottie said and everyone began holding her hands, taissa looking back at where marley was looking moments before

"okay, we'll try what we did yesterday, try to tune into each others breath and then go past it...see what you can hear past that" lottie said as shauna walked away, going back into the cabin and taissa and marley put their attention back into the group 

––

"hey javi, just nod if you found shelter" ethan asked, his hand on javi's knee as the boy just stared at the fire 

"seriously, you owe us after stealing our bear meat" mari said, her arms crossed with her chest 

"hey trav?" ethan called out as travis put down his mug, turning to ethan 

"yeah, maybe you could help here" ethan said while pointing at javi 

"he'll talk when he's ready" travis simply said before turning back 

"hey, javi, where'd you find that queen card?" akilah asked gently but still, no answer, so everyone left him alone 

after a few minutes, mari got the deck of cards and began telling people to pick