Land of The Falls

Chapter One - Two Girls

Alexander woke up with a gasp. It was pitch black. He reached to his right and felt for the switch to his lamp.

The air was murky and his bed felt extremely uncomfortable. When Alexander could not find the switch, he looked for his alarm clock. The glowing neon numbers on it always stood out, so that was his next target. But there was no glowing neon colors this time, so the next inference was that the power had gone out.

Alexander kept feeling until he grabbed a stringy, long cord. He yanked on it, but instead of a click and the release of light, he heard a loud, "OUCH!"

Then someone slapped his hand. 

"Who's there?" demanded Alex, trying to summon his deepest voice.

"Who are you?" ask the other voice. It sounded feminine.

"I'm Alexander. Who are you?"

"I'm Emily. Why did you yank my hair?"

"Why are you in this box with me?"

"I do not know. Is there some light in here?" answered the voice.

"I thought your hair was my lamp's light switch," said Alexander. "Which is why I yanked it. The cord is usually jammed, so force helps to move it."

There was an awkward silence. Alex scratched his ear and gulped. "Do you think we're being kidnapped?" he asked.

"I haven't heard anything since I got up."

"They could have left and locked us in here."

Emily snorted. "You have a wild imagination, Alexander."

"What if I'm right?"

"And what if you're not?" Emily challenged. "Look, there's no need to sit here and talk about being kidnapped. I'm finding a way out of here." 

Alexander hurt the rustling of clothes, and then a loud bong!  "Ouch!" cried Emily. 

Alexander could not contain the laughter. He burst out laughing and punched the ceiling, imitating the hilarious bonking noise. 

"Hey, shut up!" Emily demanded!

"What's all the raucous!" a voice screamed. "Where am I and what voices am I listening to?"

"Um, hello?" called Emily. Her obnoxious yet crisp voice rang about the small box they were stuck in.

"I'm Jaiyah," the voice responded. "Where am I?"

Alexander cut in. "Emily and I have been debating on that for the past few minutes. I know no Jaiyah and an Emily Ling, but she sounds nothing like that Emily."

"And I knew an Alex in first grade," said Emily in a sarcastic voice. "And he was as mature as you."

"Hey, shut up! I'm trying to introduce us and find out what the heck is going on, and you won't shut your big, fat--" Alexander began, trying to let all of his rage out, but a large hissing sound interrupted him, and then a large explosion. Immediately, all three of them were swallowed up. Alexander closed his eyes and then opened them. He saw Emily, her dirty blonde hair, a few feet below him, but could not locate Jaiyah. He looked above him and saw what looked like a massive palm tree above the water.

And where was the top of the water? Alexander could barely breathe. He was always a good swimmer but had swallowed a bit of water when the pond had randomly flooded their headquarters of anger. Now his lungs were about to burst. He swallowed another mouthful of water and started to choke. Black spots danced around his eyes and he clawed his way up.

The water broke apart and Alexander saw spit flying everywhere as he reached the surface. He choked and vomited in the water several times before crawling his way to the edge, which was only a few yards away. As he flopped on the ground, he unconsciously marveled at the incredible land. Trees decorated the area with flowers in overgrown grass, and a huge flat, stone mountain that spanned at least 10,000 feet up in the air for as long as the eye could see.

However, there was no time. Alexander had his doubts, but he knew that Emily was probably underneath the water somewhere and needed help. While he didn't want to help the brat, he knew it was the nicest decision to make. Once he was sure he could hold is breath and not swallow water, he dove under.

Luckily, the water was clear and he just about knew where Emily was. The pond-like body of water was about 15 to 20 feet deep, and Emily was at the very bottom. She was sprawled out like a 5-year-old making snow angels. 

Now Alexander was hesitant. He knew nothing about touching girls, nor had he thought of himself in the situation. But there was no time to waste and he could already feel himself starting to lose oxygen. He wrapped his right arm around her stomach and pulled her next to him and then used his other arm to swim up. 

Once they were at the top, Alexander made sure to keep her head above the water. It took a while, and Jaiyah ended up helping, as she had also made it up alone.

Now on the shore, Emily's wet body lay resting on the grass. Alexander first checked for a pulse. There was one, but it was extremely faint. Jaiyah started to freak out. 

"What if she dies?" she asked. "I don't want to see somebody die! That's disgusting! That's scary! You have to save her!"

Alexander contemplated the moment. He did not want to see Emily die. He didn't want to see anyone die. He remembered being taught in elementary school the concept of CPR. It was always boring and pointless to him, but now he wished he'd paid attention. Now he was forced to go with his only reference... the movies he'd watched.

Quickly, he lifted up her head and grimaced. Her face was ghostly white, but he also felt a little weird doing this. But once again, there was no time to waste.

Alexander thanked The Lord his friends were not there, and closing his eyes, quickly performed CPR to Emily.