forest

Awake

By BoldChrysanthemum

The sunlight pierces through the vast overgrown trees, colors swirling lazily through the hazy morning. A light layer of dew had formed overnight, leaving the ground slightly wet and uncomfortable. Trees and bushes twitch, and the grass sits unmoving, each knife like blade still.

My eyelids flutter open, instantly alert, the brown irises pierce my surroundings, scanning every object in sight. Three bodies lay beside me, next to a blackened heap of crisp twigs. A dead fire beside three very alive people. But it is quiet. Too quiet.

A flicker passes thought the edges of my vision, dancing in an unidentified spotlight. Something grey- no, silver- shimmers in the early morning hues of pinks and reds. It is gone in an instant, but the feeling of dread in my stomach persists. The emotional reaction is instinctive, yet seemingly uncalled for. Calmly, I remind myself that a flash of color does not merit intense worry. I am making a big deal about nothing.

Dawn creeps on, illuminating the cracks and crevices that hide in the night. Cobwebs between branches stubbornly become stuck in view. As the shadows of darkness dissipate, unlike the impending doom of dark storm clouds off in the distance, the bodies around me begin to move. With a sudden jerk, Emmi's long brown curls cascade down her back as she sits up, yawning. "Anything new?" She stammers out in the same breath.

"Nope." I respond confidently. A lifetime of surviving in a forest can make you pretty sure about your surveillance skills. The lifestyle of a wanderer, with no home, roaming through an endless black hole of continuous trees is one we are accustomed to. There is no other option. I contemplate bringing up the silver flutter, but decide against it.

Slowly, a white hot pain slashes over my forehead, and my stomach feels as if it has been filled with a plethora of rotten tree stumps, their soggy and squishy nature churning through my stomach. Nervousness, and a sense of foreboding fill me, and for a moment I feel no other emotion, no other feeling.

Alex and Caroline manage to wake up simultaneously, as if their internal clock runs in sync. "Breakfast?" Alex mumbles awkwardly, trying to stand while his deep brown eyes are still half closed.

"Well," I begin, letting a forced smile take over my face while my stomach free falls in the same fashion as it had earlier. "We might have to go a few miles to find anything to eat, and our weather forecast is, drum roll please," I jump once more, yet every open eye gazed up at the sky, giving me a second to fix my facade.

"Rain!" We shout together, doubling over laughing. Even the black hole eating at my stomach can't stop me from bursting out as the awkward laughter explodes, like a bomb in desperate need of detonation. The facade I was building up starts becoming easier to hold up after our stolen carefree moment in time, despite the knot being twisted in my stomach.