Three months ago, my ribs had been covered by a thick, golden-brown layer of flesh. Now you could count each one of my bones underneath my papery-skin.
I pulled my hoodie down as I heard footsteps behind me.
"What's wrong?" Finn's familiar voice asked.
I shrugged and sat down at the edge of the lake. My reflection's hollow-boned face pouted.
Finn kneeled beside me and cupped his hands to scoop up water to drink. Watching the crystal clear liquid run down his chin made me want to take a sip too, but I didn't want to risk a bacterial infection. I would only drink from the lake if I was absolutely parched, whereas Finn wouldn't hesitate for a second.
"Just drink some, Leigh." Finn whined, wiping his hands off on his sweatpants. "It's fine. I've been drinking it for 11 weeks and I'm still alive."
"You might not be by the 12th," I argued.
Finn huffed but didn't persist.
We sat in silence for a good five minutes, but the silence was broken by a whistle.
Finn turned to me with a terrified expression. We both froze.
"Buster! Buster!" A deep voice called from somewhere behind a row of bushes behind us.
A smiling yellow lab came prancing out of the foliage.
Finn swore silently and went straight from sitting to running, grabbing my arm on the way.
"Where do we go?!" I hiss.
"Just get out of here."
Buster had caught sight of us and came bounding in our footsteps.
Finn let go of my arm so I could run on my own and I followed him behind a pile of rocks. I flattened my back against the rocky wall, grabbing a handful of Finn's hoodie.
"Buster, come on!" The man called again. He was at the lake now, where we had been just 20 seconds ago.
"Did we lose the dog?" Finn breathed into my ear, barely audible.
It wasn't three seconds before Buster came around the corner of the rock wall.
"No no no no no, go that way!" I whispered, pointing to the way he had come. "Go! Get out!"
Buster didn't listen.
"Come on, boy!" The owner yelled. "What's back there?"
I soundlessly drifted closer to Finn, farther away from Buster and his owner - who was coming closer. My hiding partner shuffled backwards to a crouching position and I figured I would do the same; if we were under the man's line of vision he might be less likely to see us.
I could see our threat's hand reach out to grab his dog's collar - just two feet away from me. My heart was beating abnormally fast.
Buster was dragged around to the other side of the rock wall, and the man and his dog carried on their walk, oblivious to the fact that two troubled kids were hiding in the trail he'd just walked through.
Finn and I waited what we thought was a minute, to make sure the man and Buster were out of earshot.
"Oh my god," Finn sighed.
I shot him a dirty glance.
"Lets just get out of here. My leg is starting to cramp up."
I checked behind the rocks before I rounded the corner, and crept out slowly. Finn followed a footstep behind me.
Collapsing at the shore of the lake, I let out a sigh. "That has never happened before. What would someone be doing this far up the mountain?"
"Well what are we doing this far up the mountain?" Finn countered. He sat down next to me and took his hiking boots off. "Leigh, I think we need to do something."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Like..." He stretched out his legs and rest his feet in the icy water. "Like leave the mountain."
