The Phoenix Series: Sacrifice

Chapter 8: The Hiking Trip

 As I’m walking through the door I can feel more nausea hitting my stomach, so much for feeling better.

Walking into the kitchen, I open one of the pantries and get out the anti-acid.

I don’t know half the stuff I’m doing as I’m walking around, but the entire time I can’t get Adams face out of my head. “I need to find something to take up all of my free time, I don’t like it being occupied by someone else.”

Suddenly I stumble over the blanket I dropped on the floor earlier and I fall onto the couch. Not feeling the strength to get up, I turn over onto my back and stare up at the ceiling, again Adams face from earlier pops into my head as guilt washes over me for the fact that I left him alone that way. Grabbing a pillow from behind my head, I stuff it into my face and grumble, “Get outta my head!!!”

Energy rushing through my system at the thought of getting away from him for a while, I walk into my room and start packing my stuff.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With my enormous backpack on my back, the sun just barely over the horizon and the wind rushing through all the trees around me, like a little child anxiously awaiting the chance to open a Christmas present, I lock the back door and take the little rock path into the forest. At first I see the usual footpath that I take, but as I walk it becomes less visible and I just start walking wherever I feel like it.

All around, trees are towering over me, vines climbing up various plants, some stretching their arms out across my path, begging me to trip.

Everything around me is familiar with all the times that I’ve walked these paths. Ignoring the weight on my back, I start running through the trees, zigzagging here and there, leaping over bushes and vines as I approach them. Blurs of trees pass me every which way.

After running for a few miles my breathing starts to grow heavy, the backpack taking its toll as I slow down. Nothing is familiar anymore, so I slow down to take in everything around me.

Not far from me I can hear water; curious, I head in the direction of the sound.

It’s so tiny that I find it difficult to locate in between all of the trees as I zigzag through them. There’s maybe three feet in between the trees and tons of rocks piled up all over the place as the water trickles down them. Making me question how I was even able to hear it in the first place. Bending down next to it, I let the water run over my hand. Visions run through my head at the feel of the water; startled, I jerk my hand back and lose the water in the process.

Standing back up, I start walking up stream, even though I don’t think that there’s enough water for it to be considered an actual stream; more like a creek.

The further I get the more water I find, when it suddenly makes a drastic turn to the left, I decide to continue heading straight instead of following it.

After walking uphill, I finally approach an even landing, allowing my legs some relief from all the uphill climbing.

Examining the area, I notice the trees are more spacious then they were closer to home and up a head there’s a large tree that is scarily familiar, like from a dream, just taller and slightly different. Right past it is a curtain of leaves, the tree they were attached to half standing. Visions of my previous dream fly through my brain as I walk up to the curtain. Through little spaces in the leaves I can see sunlight shining brightly into the middle of a wildflower patch. The tree stump is no longer what it was; a tiny sprout apparently started growing out of it and has now become a tiny tree. As I approach, I notice tiny cherry blossoms growing from the limbs. Stopping in front of it, I set my hand on it as a single tear drop escapes my eye. To think that Joseph sat on this very tree stump over a thousand years ago.