Hatta Almawt

Ethan

     I wake up to Alex's stomach growling. She wakes up, too.

"Are your hands better?" I ask.

"To be honest? No." She says. Her eyes well with tries. "God! I'm so happy we are out of there but I just wish I could be as excited as all of you. My hands just hurt so much." She started out sounding irritated but ended sounding extremely sad.

I hug her, hopeing it will comfort her. She leans her head into my shoulder. Her shoulders shake and my shirt soaks with her silent tiers.

"I just want to be as happy like everyone else but I don't feel very relieved." She says in a small voice.

"Hey. It's okay! Let's go figure out something for food." I say.

She nods against my shoulder.
.....
Drew made a sling shot that shoots rocks so we can hunt. It works great! We have one rabbit and two birds cooking over a fire that Nita made.

The new girl, Leah, is just sitting in front of the fire staring into it.
When she looks up it's when Alex and I sit down across from her. "Thank you for getting us out of there." She says with a small smile.

"I did it because I had to, no need for thanks." Alex responds quietly.
.....
That night for dinner I had to help Alex eat. Even though we have been hit by that stick before, this is different. On a soft palm it hurts even worse, especially since you use your hands for pretty much everything, all the time, and its impossible to use your hands when your hands have deep cuts in them.

But right now we are lying on the ground staring at the stars.

"Do you know any of the constellations?" She asks me quietly.

"Well," I look around in the sky and find it. "You see those three stars in a row?" She nods her head. "That's Oriens belt. Then if you look for the four brightest stars around it you'll see the rest of Orian. Oh! And right over there, that's Leo the lion. And there's the big dipper." I tell her.

"Wow." She says under her breath. "Beautiful."

"Just like you." I say before I realize it. She scoots closer to me to rest her head on my chest. Then she closes her eyes and within a few seconds her breaths turn slow and even. She's asleep.