Dreaming Big

Chapter 6: River

"Ouch that was my foot!"

"Well that was my head!"

"It's not my fault my arm is soooo attracted to your face."

"With a face this sexy, what wouldn't be attracted?"

Alright, now that one got Chase a slap to the head. "What was that for?" Chase asked in surprise, sounding rather hurt. "Mosquito," I replied. He didn't say anything, and I wasn't sure whether he knew I was joking or not. Either way, I wasn't going to set him straight. We continued on into the black night. The deeper we traveled into the woods, the darker it got. I could barely see a foot in front of me. Not to mention I didn't have a clue where we were or where we were going. It was worrisome, not knowing whether or not we would actually be  able to make it out of here or not. I didn't tell Chase that, though.

I had an easy time navigating through the woods. I had spent most of my life playing around in forests. I knew what to expect. Chase was having a harder time. I couldn't tell you the number of times he tripped over a tree root or got tangled into a thorn bush. Suddenly here was a loud crash from behind me, and a shout of a particularly nasty swear word. "Watch your mouth there, Chase," I told him, not stopping to wait for him to pick himself off the ground.

"STOP WALKING SO FAST!" He exploded in frustration. I stopped and waited for him to scramble to his feet. He came running over to me, and grabbed onto my hand before I could continue walking. Startled, I pulled my hand back, but he held on tight. "I am not letting go," He said stubbornly. Rolling my eyes, I started walking again with Chase trailing behind me.

We walked on for a while in silence. The darker it was getting, the closer Chase was trying to walk next to me. Uncomfortable, with him breathing down my neck, I dropped his hand and moved away. "What, are you afraid of the dark or something?" I joked, trying my best to keep it from getting awkward. He didn't respond.  I turned to look at him, and I could faintly see his face in the blackness. His face was emotionless, something I associated as a way to hide fear.

I stopped walking. He almost ran into me. "Are you seriously afraid of the dark?" I asked in disbelief. "No," But his answer was too defiant, too loud. "Really?" I snorted. "So if I ran away right now and left you completely alone, you wouldn't freak out?" He turned towards me. "No." he repeated, this time more sure. "Hmm..." I sighed then before even I knew what I was doing, I was racing off into the trees.

"No wait! Charlotte! STOP!" Chase screamed, and started running after me. Even though he was probably faster than me normally, he had nothing against me in the dark and uneven ground. I stopped to catch my breath, and ducked behind a large oak tree. "CHARLOTTE! SERIOUSLY THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANY MORE!" Chase was still screaming for me. There was panic beginning to set into his voice. I was starting to feel bad for making him afraid, but the kid had annoyed me too much. His voice began to fade slightly, and I stepped out from behind the tree. I would have no problem trying to find him. That's when his voice entirely cut off.

Walking towards the last place I heard his voice, I strained to catch his voice. Maybe he had tripped again, making him stop his shouting. But it was dead silent. I picked up the pace. "Chase?" I shouted. There was no reply. I was running at this point. If something had happened to him, just because I was being stupid, I'd never forgive myself. "CHASE!" I paused, heart beating furiously, praying to hear him/

"CHAR!" His voice was pure terror, screaming at the top of his lungs. I took off towards the left, down where I could faintly hear the rushing of a river. 'CHASE!" Bursting out of the trees, there was a creek nestled under a small cliff that was flooded to nearly ten feet across. Black water rushed downstream, crashing over everything in its path and dragging it under. There, in the very center of the water and clinging to a tree limb for dear life, was Chase. I had seconds to comprehend what had happened. He had probably been running, too afraid to see the cliff until it was too late. "CHAR! HELP!" He screech as soon as he saw me.

The branch he was clinging to gave a violent snap, and broke free of the rock it had been wedged between. Chase lost his grip and went under. "NO!" I shouted, and without a second thought, launched myself over the side of the cliff. The cold water hit me like a knife. Gasping, I came up for breath, only to be sucked back down a millisecond later. The water thrashed and pummeled me around, almost making it impossible to surface again. I would've drowned for sure, if I hadn't been swimming for nearly ten years.

I broke free of the surface, frantically kicking and paddling myself forward. All I could see in front of me was the churning water. I didn't dare call out to Chase, it was too risky. I pushed myself down the freezing river, looking for a patch of hair and trying to feel human skin under the water. There was a brief flash of shiny hair, and then it was gone. But that flash was all I needed. I dove under, and my hand connected with Chase's shirt. Swimming like I had never done before, I pulled him to the surface.

Choking, and coming out of the water, I hugged him as close to me as I could. He was still conscious, but only barely. I started swimming parallel, trying for the shore. "Kick!" I shouted to him, and his efforts became slight better, but not much help. I was tired. My head beginning to go under. This was the end. We were both going to die. I'm sorry. I thought towards him, struggling to keep my eyes above the water. Just when I thought I couldn't swim any longer, my feet connected with solid ground.

With some newfound energy, I stood up, only feet away from shore. Grabbing Chase under his arms, I dragged him to the ground and laid him on his back. He started coughing up water while I collapsed beside him. My  breathing was coming in ragged gasps, every inch of my body hurt. I felt like the time I had swam the mile during a swim meet. Chase stopped choking up water and was silent. I couldn't control myself then. I threw my arms around him in a hug. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault," I said, voice rough from swallowing so much water.

Very cautiously, he put his arms around me in a hug that became stronger the longer his arms were there. "You saved my life," He whispered, voice just as rough. I shook my head in his soaked shirt. "If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't be in this mess." He pulled back and I could see his piercing green eyes, just inches from mine. "You saved both of our lives. If I hadn't fallen, we wouldn't have found the river. Do you know what running water means? If you follow it, eventually it will lead you to people." There was a flash of his white teeth. "We're going to get out of here."