Journey

Elijah: Cambaar

When I get up a few hours later my back hurts. I struggle for a moment in my tent. The air got colder and more brisk. I open the tent and walk out into the forest we were trudging in. Alaina was already awake. She was sitting in front of a circle of stones.

"What are you doing?" I ask her.

"I'm trying to make a bonfire," She replies.

"Alaina! Why are you making a bonfire?" I ask quickly.

"To keep warm."

My heart rate lowers to a more normal pace.

"Hey Eli. Go pack up your bag. We are leaving after Breakfast," She says.

I walk over to my tent and take it down. I fold it carefully in the way Alaina taught me. I organize it carefully. It takes me a while to get it all in. I guess I don't have the organization levels Alaina has. I walk over to where she is preparing breakfast. She is boiling a pot of what looks like soup over the bonfire she made earlier.

"Here have some soup," She says handing me a bowl of the soup she made.

It tasted amazing! The thing tasted like a million different things at once. Each flavor and taste perfectly compliments the others.

I eat until I can't get anymore soup off the edges of my bowl.

"That was really good!" I tell her.

"Thank you," She smiles.

"We have to go or we might miss them," I say.

We grab our packs and walk toward the mountains. Alaina entertains me as we walk through the thick forest. I look up at the sky. It is almost dark. I also see something I hadn't seen before. There amongst the stars I could see a gleam that looked to big to be a star. It takes me a while to realize that the gleam is the ship.

"Alaina look," I say pointing to the ship.

"What is that?" She asks me.

"It's the ship," I say.

She gazes at it. She looks like she's in a trance.

"It looks pretty," She says.

"I wonder what it's like to be the people up there right now," I think aloud.

"It must feel pretty amazing," Alaina says.

"Yeah they are about to arrive to the place their ancestors have been trying to reach for centuries," I say.

"It's still pretty amazing to be us right now though," She says.

"Yeah. We are going to be put into the history books for this," I tell her.

"This two day hike could change the world," She says.

I nod. I let the weight of this sink into me.

"Woah," I whisper under my breath.

By the time we have been walking for four hours my legs are killing me.

"Do you need to sit down for a moment?" Alaina asks.

I nod. We collapse on a rock. My heart feels like it is hammering in my chest and my breathing was ragged. Alaina passes me a thermos of water. I allow it to dribble down my throat. I have never once understood the importance of water but now that I have a limited amount I value it more than anything. Alaina gets up. She brings a bowl with her.

"What are you doing?" I ask her.

"I am getting water from the stream," She says.

I listen closely. I don't see a stream but I hear it.

"Hey can you build a fire?" She asks.

I nod. I have never built a fire before but I had seen her build one this morning. I make the fire circle and gather the sticks. I build the stone circle set the sticks and a teepee looking structure. I grab a rock and my knife and try to get a spark. After a while of doing this Ifinally get a blaze. Than Alaina comes back. She puts the bowl of water in the fire.

"What are you doing?" I ask her.

"I am purifying the water," She replies.

She lets the water come to a boil and then puts it in the bottle. We continue walking until we are about two miles from the landing site. She pulls off her pack and pulls out her tent.

"What are you doing? The site is still a good two miles away?" I ask.

"The ship is giant," She says.

I am still confused.

"I don't want us to be crushed or burnt alive."

"Oh," I say.

It was so obvious. I feel so stupid now. I sit down on a fallen log and gaze up at the sky. The last rays of the sun still illuminate the sky. I close my eyes and listen to the songs the animals play. I finally force myself to go to sleep. When I wake up again the sun is gone.