into the wilderness - h.s.

three

{Intro - Ariana Grande}

In all my twenty years of life, my favourite day was the day I graduated high school. My dad and my sister had came to the ceremony, and watched as I walked across the stage, draped in gold and black, to accept my diploma. I was now officially an adult, and on my way to college, to a better future. After I had tossed my black cap into the air, we had ridden the subway back to our apartment. We had rented the entire top floor, just for my party. All of my friends were there, as well as aunts, cousins, and grandparents, and the long lost relative that I met when I was a baby.

My next favourite day, would have to be the day I moved in with Jacob, shortly after my graduation party. He had the perfect apartment, close to everything on campus, as well as the best shopping and clubs. The day I moved in, it was cardboard box, after cardboard box. That was not the fun part. Later, after a good full day of moving furniture and unpacking clothes, we went clubbing. The drinks, the dancing, the loud music; it felt relaxing after a long, hard day's work.

On the scale of favourite days, today would rank somewhere in-between getting my first car, and moving in with Jacob. Today had not yet topped the charts, and it never would, but it was close. Damn close. The sensation of breathing in non-poluted air, the feeling of being able to touch the sky, and the majestic view that I could only relate to an eagle. An eagle had this type of view, and in the photographs, the eagle was always soaring, wings spread, high above the mountains and the trees. That's what it felt like. Like I was soaring on the road to the sky.

The sun was starting to disappear behind the mountains in the west as I struggled to pitch my tent. Lalya was off gathering firewood with Bruce's girlfriend and Alisha. Because of the uneven number of people in our group, Alisha would have to sleep by herself. I pitied her in a way, but being a single mom, she might be used to sleeping alone. Harry got stuck with the unfortunate pleasure of sharing a tent with Tristan. Even though he tried to conceal it, I could tell by the look on his face, that Harry was not looking forward to tonight. I don't think I would be either, if I was in his shoes.

I'm not quite sure why Harry decided to let Bruce and his girlfriend sleep in the same tent, but that was his decision. I guess he was a believer in true love, if I could say as much about a person in the almost twelve hours that I had known them.

Layla and the girlfriend stumbled back into camp with bundles of wood in their arms. Alisha was pulling what looked like a makeshift sled that she had fastened out of tree branches and some rope. On the sled were some larger pieces of log that must have been chopped with an axe.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Harry gestured to Alisha's sled. "Here we have a fine example of learning how to use our resources. Alisha has built a sled out of branches, which could come in handy for later. Can anyone think of what we might be able to use it for in the future?" His eyes scanned the small crowd.

"To haul more wood?" Tristan spoke up with a little uncertainty.

Harry nodded. "Good. Anything else?"

"If one of us gets tired, we could ride on it." the girlfriend states bluntly.

"And force others to work more to pull you?" Harry frowns.

She just shrugs. "Bruce would pull me. Wouldn't you Brucey Woocey?" I almost gag at the mention of his pet name. I hear Layla make a strangled noise behind me, and I know she caught it too.

"Um, yeah," Bruce replys to his clingy girlfriend with an emotionless face and a shrug.

Harry rolls his eyes and sighs as he drags his fingers through his hair in clear irritation.

"We could use the sled to carry things we gather along the way, such as food," I think logically, as I seemed to be the only person around here who has a brain.