The Death Race

The River

The tears were wiped dry long ago. The sobbing and cuddles since gone. With the sobbing and tears, the tension and hard feeling left. No more icy stares, or crispy arguments. We followed the north - pointing - flag all the way to a wide, murky river. I dipped my bare hand in the water but quickly retracted it. "That's fr-free-freezing." I said shivering. "Like Antarctica." 'Well, that's a bit of exaggeration, it can't be that cold." Alex sighed, exasperatedly. I raised an eyebrow. "You try then." "Fine, I will." She bent down and put her whole hand in the water. She slowly pulled it out. "I think my hand gone's numb." She mumbled. "Not that cold, huh?" I smirked. Alex mumbled something inaudible. "How do you suggest we cross then?" Ashton asked. "We could build a raft, maybe from sticks or bamboo?" Jasper added. "Great idea." I had nearly forgotten Lilly was there. " Everyone split up and search for sticks and that, but stay close to the shore." Jasper said, taking charge. "Will do Captain." Ashton giggled. i set off with Alex into the forest. Like Jasper mentioned we never strayed far from the river bank. "Over here" I walked over to the dead tree, Alex was standing at. Together we dragged a bucket load of twigs, branches and sticks back to the river. I brushed the bark sediments of my palms. "You think we need more?" "Not to worry, Jasper saves the day." Jasper comes out of the forest, singing. He's dragging numerous logs and sticks, way more then Lilly and I combined. And he's just one boy. "Got enough there Jasp?" Lilly ask, humorously. "Ya, I'm sort of covered in dirt though." He looks at himself. He's looks like a farmer, who's been working in the fields all day. He walks down to the shore and starts to scrub his fingernails. I silently move towards him. When I'm a centimeter away from him I shove my hands onto his back and give him a push. He goes toppling into the water, wetting him wet to toe. Alex and I laugh till it hurts. " You should have seen the look on your face, eheheheh." Jasper is now out of the water, staring at us. I stop laughing when my lungs burn. Jasper starts calmly strolling towards me. "Hugs?" He opens his arms, lovingly. "ugh, no thanks" I say. I step back. He smiles evilly at me. He races towards me and envelopes me in a wet hug. "gross!" Alex starts laughing again. I shake off the droplets of water off me and I run after Jasper. "I'm going to kill you Jasper!" I shout. We race along the shore until we are stopped, fully out of pride. We sit on the shore, playing truth or dare till the others come back. "God, what took ya so long?" I ask. "Sorry we got lost." Lilly says, death staring Ashton. "Sorry" He murmurs. Ashton concentrates his eyes on his feet. "Okay, What ya guys pick up?" I asked. "We got some bamboo string and sticks." "That's perfect." Alex complimented. "Let' start building.' Jasper roared playfully. It took around an hour to build the raft. It kept falling apart, so it was a bit complicated. "Done!" We all shout and cheer. "Lets see if it floats." I added. Alex, Jasper and I lifted the raft of the shore and heaved it over to the river water. We throw the raft into the water and watch it sink. Our face slips, showing dismay. Suddenly the raft submerges the water and stays floating. We cheer. I step onto the raft, putting half my weight onto it. Water rushes over the side, wetting the logs and sticks. "The weight needs to be even." They nod. "Me, Alex and Ashton are on the far side, Jasper and Lilly on the side closer to the shore." I say. They agree. I step onto the raft and settle down onto the far side. the raft tilts from my weight. Jasper quickly jumps on, tilting the raft to the left. Ashton comes over to me, leveling out the weight. Once we are all on the levelly balanced raft, we started to paddle (With our makeshift paddle = Sticks, with palm leaves on the bottom) across the river. The river was around 2km wide. We were about halfway when Ashton asked "Are those logs moving towards us?"

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Hope u enjoyed my chapter....with a cliffhanger :)