Fanged

Chapter 10

The sun rose above the horizon; a large orange circle trimmed in shimmering golden light. Birds chirped in the trees, and the dewy grass glinted in the misty morning rays of golden sun. As the sun slowly gained height, launching itself into the sky, it illuminated the forest just enough so the girls could see one another.

"We need to get moving," Alex said, nudging Juli, "Come on, wake up."

"Huh?" Juli mumbled, sitting up, "Why'd you wake me up?"

"You said we had to go at the break of dawn," Alex laughed, "But it doesn't look like you're really a morning person."

"No, I'm not," Juli massaged her back and smoothed her blonde hair into place, "But a plan's a plan and I'm sticking to it. Let's start a fire and burn some Rosemary and Honeysuckle. It'll mask our scents."

"I'll start the fire," Alex said at once, "I've always been good at that. I've never lit a fire on purpose, of course, but I've done so many on accident-"

"I'll just go collect some flowers," Juli interrupted, "When we're done with this, we'll have to find food. I'm starving."

"And water," Alex added, "I'm parched."

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Juli picked one last red-yellow honeysuckle flower from the bush and returned to the small clearing where she and Alex had set up camp. Alex was occupied rubbing two sticks together and continuously pausing to growl with frustration.

"Having trouble?" Juli asked. Alex whirled around to look at her.

"No, I'm just....no, I'm fine, I mean, this is going...great. Just great." Alex forced a smile.

"Alex, I know a lie when I see one," Juli laughed, "Let me see those sticks." Reluctantly, Alex passed them to her. Juli began to rub them together, pouring all of her energy into sparking a fire. Smoke began to coil off of the sticks.

"You're so close!" Alex said excitedly.

"Just a little more...." A fire ignited the moment Juli was about to give up. Her instinct being to toss it, Juli hastily dropped the burning stick onto the pile of wood and pine needles Alex had collected the previous day. The flame flickered in the semi-darkness of the early morning, crackling and hissing as Alex fed the flame. Juli carefully placed the rosemary and honeysuckle onto the roaring fire, and the aroma instantly tinted the air. The two girls took a moment to breath in the perfumed air, before splitting up once more to retrieve food and water.

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Juli was on the hunt for a river or a spring; any other water, she knew, was undrinkable.

One hour later, the sound of rushing water met her ears. Juli dashed through the thick forest and then her eyes fell upon it...
A beautiful river; cool, clean water rushing by, splashing up onto the grassy banks, running smoothly over large, slippery rocks and pebbles. Juli knelt down on the dirt and scooped water into her hands, drinking heartily until she couldn't continue. Juli took out a ziploc bag and filled it up to bring back to Alex.

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Alex maneuvered her spear, adjusting it to the perfect angle. Just before she launched it into the air, the rabbit hopped away and out of sight.

"Ugh," Alex said disappointedly, retrieving her spear from the bush it had gotten stuck in, "Stupid rabbit, why can't you just let me kill you?"