Run Away

Ch-7. Jake's Story

Ch-7: Jake's Story

"Okay, this place is far enough," Jake said looking around. We had been walking for hours. We'd finished the water in both the bottles. Then I had an apple that I'd packed and then we shared a packet of potato chips, which Sam had got from somewhere as usual.

I looked around. I was sure that we were in a small village. There were small huts everywhere with roofs made of hay. There were buffalos tied on a side, and a bucket of water was kept next to them. The place stank!

Dusk was falling. My ankles ached and my stomach hurt. We walked a little further, then we finally saw a cart. There was a huge cloth kept on the cart.
"I guess that's where we'll sleep tonight," Jake said looking at the cart.

"But we all won't fit," Suzie said, looking at the cart with disappointment.

"Don't worry. We all can squeeze in."

"Please! I want to sleep comfortably." I said looking away.

Jake opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it again and shook his head. "Have your way, princess." He said as he started collecting twigs. Suzie and Sam helped him.

"Okay, what is this for?" I asked, just standing there.

"I'm sure you won't want to die in the cold at night." Suzie was saying, but Jake said quickly, "we're going to build a fire."

I rubbed my bare arms. It was a little chilly. Suddenly, I realised that I wasn't wearin the dull blue jacket. Where was it? That's when I realised that when we'd taken a break from walking, we'd sat down and I'd taken off my jacket. I guess I'd left it out there.

I looked around. There was a tree next to us. Ever since I was a child, I loved climbing trees. I quickly climbed up the tree, only a little high, and sat out there. I stared at the view ahead. The sky was dark. The clouds had covered most of the stars and only a little bit of the moon was visible.

As I sat there, I remembered the times when I always climbed that banyan tree which came on my way to school. So every time, when I came back from school with my mother, I would climb the tree, up to the very top. Then I would pose and my mother would smile and click my pictures. But that was a long long time ago. Probably when I was six to nine years old.

Suddenly, there was a flash from beneath me. I stared down with surprise. Jake had clicked my picture with my camera.

"Hey!" I cried, hastily climbing down.

"Why do you have a camera in your bag. You think you've come here for sightseeing or what?" He said as I snatched the camera from him.

"Stop going through my bag," I said, glaring at him. He just shrugged and said, "the fire's ready. Sam's gone to get us some food."

I looked ahead. Surely, the fire was ready, its flames were dancing in the darkness. I suddenly realised that I was freezing. I sat next to the fire with Suzie and warmed my hands. Warmth rushed through my hands and then through my body. I looked into the fire. It glowed in the dark.

I could see two figures coming towards us from the distance. Jake noticed it too. He got up and took my bag to use as a weapon. Suddenly, those two figures came closer. Close enough for us to see a small boy walking with an old woman. Jake kept my bag down. The woman and the boy passed us and then the old woman stopped. She turned towards us and handed Jake a bottle of hot milk. Jake muttered a thank you and took it.