Hero - Book One - Journey To The East

Chapter 12: Enjoy your meal

Emily

The fire crackles, keeping us warm.

Hero takes care of the fire, poking the embers with a stick. Sparks fly into the sky. It's tough not to watch him and feel grateful for having him around, even though I know I shouldn't get too attached.

Once we've saved my parents, he'll definitely be gone.

"So," Hero says with a soft voice. "What's on your mind?"

"Just... thinking about our next move."

"Thinking about Old York?"

I nod. "Yeah, and... I don't know. It feels like a long shot."

Hero looks at me with calm and comforting eyes. "Don't worry. We'll figure it out."

I have the urge to scoff, but his optimism makes me grin. "Yeah, I guess."

He smiles back, and it warms my heart.

"See? We've got this."

Although I wish to have faith in his words, the fear of disappointment looms large.

"I hope you're right."

When he's about to pat my shoulder, he decides not to. "We'll find them, Emily. I promise."

Maybe we'll get lucky and find my parents.

In a hushed tone, I confess, "I'm feeling scared."

Hero's eyes meet mine. "Me too."

"What are you scared of?"

He hesitates, glancing from left to right.

"I'm scared of losing people. You know... People I love. It felt like a searing knife cutting through me," he says, his voice shaking. "I've already lost too many."

His answer doesn't surprise me, but it still weighs on my heart.

"I fear that as well."

His gentle gaze shows that we understand each other without the need to say anything. "It's tough out here. But hope... hope keeps me going."

I want to dig into his mysterious past, but I'm stuck and can't do it.

The better I know him, the stronger our emotional connection becomes. And that makes me terrified of getting hurt.

"Yeah," I breathe. "Hope is all we have."

I can't get rid of these weird new emotions. I try to ignore them, but they won't leave me alone.

Then, I shut my eyes and let the warm fire wrap around me, hoping sleep will make me feel better.

____

Hero

Never-ending road. Tumbleweeds rolling.

I check out Emily, her profile glowing in the sunset.

"What's the coolest place you've seen around here?" I ask, ending the silence.

Emily's fingers lightly tap on her knee while she thinks. "There was this old amusement park," she says, her voice soft. "The rides were all rusted and falling apart, but you could still see the faded paint, the remnants of laughter."

I can see it in my head—the spooky beauty of a place that was once bustling but is now empty. "Sounds haunting," I reply.

"I guess it does. What about you?"

"For me, it was an old farmhouse with an ancient windmill. It felt like stepping back in time."

Emily's lips curl into a small smile. "I'd love to see that. There's something special about those places. They contain so many stories."