Dream of Me

November 27

"Where are we going now?" I asked, like a toddler and, against my will, wondering at the bad taste in my mouth of such a childish tone.

"Down the mountain, of course," was the matter-of-fact reply.

"Oh, we're going down the mountain? Thank you, I hadn't guessed that from the declining. Where are we going after we get down the mountain?"

"I'm not sure." We came to the cliff that had taken so many hours to climb. I had no idea how we were going to get down, just like I still had no idea of how we managed to get up in the first place. Of course, though, why did I ever doubt, my companion willed into being several ropes and hooks and all the other things you need for climbing. I have no idea what their names are, I think the little clips are caribbeaners and the rope is just rope and the pointy things we put on our boots are pointy things. Somehow, he/she secured both of us in harnesses and tied ropes in random places and eventually we were hanging off the side of the mountain once again. And I was still, once again, below him/her. The ski mask was once again covering the majority of my partner's face, but it didn't really matter because I had no idea what the face looked like even without the mask. With it, it even seemed a little more natural because I could imagine there was a clear and real face beneath it.

"Are you sure I should be on the bottom again?" I yelled up through the ice and wind, aware that it was too late to change anything but still adamant about getting my point of unhappiness across.

"Yes, you will be fine."

"I don't trust you, but I guess I have no other choice."

"If you don't trust me by now, you're even worse off than I thought."

"Here we go again! This is the perfect time to pick at my character flaws, don't you think? As we're hanging here about to lose our lives? Well, my life, because I'm the only one that has anything to lose here. You'd probably just bounce right back up after falling thousands of feet. I'd make a nice splat and never see my family back home again."

"Stop worrying. It's going to be fine." I realized there was no use arguing with this crazy, so I stopped trying to force my voice up through the howling and biting air. I would start arguing again later, if we made it down alive, but for now, I decided to focus on where my feet were landing, how I was pushing off the ice wall, and what potential daggers of frozen mountain the leader above could let loose. Minutes crawled by, hours. My arms ached, my legs ached, everything ached and I was getting to the worst state of moodiness that I had been the whole trip. Mountains were not my thing. Everyone knew this. There was no reason for me to be here at all. But now that I was, I had to focus on not dying so that I would be able to see my family again. I had to get back to them soon. I started thinking about my father and my sister, completely zoning out and losing my focus on the task at hand. Lost in thought, I almost didn't hear the warning from above.

"Watch out!" the guide shouted. I looked up and saw two things. One, a giant block of ice coming straight for my head. I didn't have enough time to try to avoid it. And two, in the brief moment before the chunk collided with my forehead, I caught a glimpse of my companion peering down from above. Her mask was off, her face, for a moment, was clear. She did seem slightly uncomfortable at the situation-my imminent death, it would seem-but not the kind of worry that one would expect to see right before the person you're supposed to be protecting dies. She merely peered down, curious to see what would happen, and in that swift glance, I saw her face clearly for the first time. It was Irene.

Chapter 17

"August."

"August. He's not waking up. What happened?"

"I don't know. I was sleeping until just now. August?"

"Hello, Mr. Da-oh, is everything alright?"

"Yes, well, I think so. My son hasn't been woken up and it's not like him to sleep in for so long. Addison was just trying to wake him up."

"But his head is turned to the wall, so I can't pinch his nose like I usually do. Maybe cold water. Or maybe we could just pull the cot away from the wall."

"I don't think that's necessary, sweetie. I'm sure he'll wake up eventually. He's quite exhausted, if his nightly wanderings aroundt he hospital are anything to say about his sleeping patterns. I'm sure the rest will be good for him."

"You're right, I'm sure. But still, I'm quite worried..."

"Well, I'll take a look at him, but right now I'm more concerned about you. How have you been feeling? Were you able to sleep through the night?"

"Yes, I sl-"

"Okay, w-"

"Dad, he's-"

"Au-"

I woke up to what felt like mid train wreck bouncing around my brain. At first, nothing was showing up through my eyes. Everything was black, but I could hear muffled sounds and suddenly a huge commotion. There was a high pitch ringing in my ears, and my head ached with an echo like I had never experienced before. The swarming around me gradually lessened, and light began to penetrate my open eyes, allowing only slight ideas of what was before me. I don't think I was sitting up, but I could see a frenzy, and soon felt hands exploring my face. What the hell is going on? But no sound came out. Soon colours also began to assign to their rightful places, and shapes and movements came together to form what I had remembered the world to be. Sounds soon lost the distortion and I could hear two familiar voices and one only vaguely familiar.

"August, what happened?" Yelling, it hurt straight to my insides. I tried to reply but words didn't formulate yet.

"Where did he get that gash? Was he here the entire night?"

"I'm not sure, we were both sleeping." Frantic. Anxious.

"He needs stitches. Wait."