Leap Before You Think

Chapter 11

"You can be pretty sneaky when you want to." I say as I look around the small cave.

The light coming from Judah's flashlight combined with mine lights up the cave some much it's as if we are outside. A small pile of long dead animal bones rests in the corner and two bear nests are not far from it. I wonder how long exactly it's been since that bear lived here? Drops of water fall from the ceiling of the cave making the ground slightly damp. A few patches of grass and flowers also litter the cave, as well as marks of bats having lived here sometime in the past. The entrance to the cave is about four feet tall so I had to crouch down when I entered the cave but other than that this place would make a decent temporary home if you were stuck in the woods. I'm not sitting directly on the ground but on my backpack. I hope too much water doesn't seep through and mess up anything inside my bag, it is waterproof so that should help.

"Yeah, I guess." he's fidgeting with a long blade of grass that he pulled up from the ground near to him, "I couldn't have possibly known this place existed though so . . . "

"That's true. So what did you want to talk about?"

"Right," he takes a deep breath, "Have I ever told you how my parents died?"

"No, but to be fair, I don't think I've ever told you what happened to mine."

He laughs, sort of. "That's true. Anyway, do you want me to tell?"

"I get the feeling that it's important to the rest of the story."

"Yes or no?" There's an odd sternness to his voice that I've never heard before.

"Yes," I look down and he takes my hand again.

"Sorry. I didn't mean for that to come out that way."

"It's not that. I just feel like I'll owe you my own story after this."

"Oh, you will." He winks at me and a laugh slips from me, "Okay back on topic."

With a final deep breath, he starts his story. I really will owe him after this. At our school, you don't know much about how the other kids became orphans unless they tell, either that or you piece bits of it together based on rumors, and then you have these bizarre stories. The thing is I've never heard anything about Judah.

"I was eight when it happened, so I had my parents two years less than you." he laughs slightly trying to lighten the tension in the room, cave whatever. "It was a dark and stormy night, the kind that's at the start of every scary movie. The wind was howling and the rain was so hard that if you placed a hand on the wind as you were looking out it you'd feel your hand vibrating. I had just sat down with my parents to watch this movie that I had be dying to see when this blast of lighting struck a tree near my house. The tree's biggest and thickest branch touched my triplet siblings' room. Did you know that I had siblings?"

I shake my head. "This is the first time I've heard this."

"Well, I did. I never talk about them, not even with Harper. Their names were Tara, Greg, and Sam they were only two years old. They had far too short of a life." a tear rolled down his cheek, "I wish that I could go back in time and warn my parents not to go upstairs to get them but they did. The triplets were crying so loud I could hear as if they were right next to me. I'll never forget the way I felt when my parents paused the movie and left me in the living room. The second I heard their footsteps upstairs there was another boom of thunder and then a blinding white flash of lightning. My house went dark, the lighting blast had hit the house at just the right spot. At that moment I started to smell smoke and with another flash of lightning, I heard my mother's scream. I remember this terrible shattering sound as the upstairs window broke. A branch from the tree had broken and fallen through the house. I knew that without even seeing it. I jumped off the couch and ran for the stairs, I had to see if my family was alright." He clenches his fist, tears are pouring from his eyes.