Girls Astray. [Complete]

Amy: The girl left behind

MISS ME?

The shaky letters are carved deep into the huge, ancient tree trunk; so deep it must have taken hours to carve.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I can't help but hope the words will disappear once I open them again.

3-2-1...

MISS ME?

No. Still there. Alex stands gaping at the tree; his mouth wide open. Suddenly he shuts it and you can see his jaw tense.

"Miss me?" He spits at the willow tree, "miss me?"

Like a raging bull he launches his body at the tree and all of a sudden there's a deafening CRACK.

He blinks at me from the grassy floor, face up staring at the sky.

"Alex?" I ask weakly, not sure if I'll get snivelling crying baby or this new ball of fury.

Silence.

I let him stew for a moment and then edge over to the other side of the tree, glancing back towards him- he's still lying in the same spot; frozen in the moment.

"Why's she doing this?" He hisses slowly, so low I almost missed it.

Bird song fills the air and a cool breeze brushes past my cheeks; I swallow my thoughts deep down inside me and stare intently at the bark of the tree.

"Why?" He whispers softly now, his voice getting lost in the whining wind.

Then, from the corner of my eye I see something red lodged in the low crevice of the tree.

Dropping to my knees, I eagerly scramble towards it, my hands clawing at the dirty bark until I can get my hand on it.

An envelope.

"Alex! I found something!" I squark, turning the envelope over in my hand. Carefully, I peel back the sealed fasting and shake it softly, but nothing comes out so I shake it quicker, much quicker.

Completely empty.

I feel Alex looming over me and I turn towards him before attempting to casually say,

"False alarm, it's just an empty..."

But something in his face stops me mid sentence. All the colour has disappeared from him. His ghost like face looks back at me.

"Read- it," he managed to stutter.

I turn the envelope over- and there are two words that have been scratched on in a shaky thick red crayon.

FIX IT.

My eyes flick up to Alex's,

"Fix what?"

The question is almost tangible as it floats in the air between us. CRASH. An almighty thud breaks the silence and I'm suddenly aware that Alex just ran face first into the tree, again.

Red liquid trickles down his forehead, but he doesn't even whimper, a blackness has taken over his gaze. This is bad.