Stolen

Chapter 3

My eyelids slowly blink. Opening and closing repeatedly before they get used to the brightness and finally stay open for a while. A slight gust of wind, bids me welcome to a new day. I place my hands firmly on the floor and press down to stand up, conserving my little energy by calming my pace. I look at my arms and hands and see that they are covered in a layer of sand. The tiny grains are made visible by the still-rising sun. Dusting them off, I look over my right shoulder and glance at my family still asleep on the ground, before being quickly intimidated by the mountains that stand over head. Tom, at a turtle-like pace begins to wake and is followed by my father and lastly my mom who hesitated and sorrowfully stared into the distance, before actually achieving a full fledged stance. When we are finally together we decide to get going and start our journey up and around the mountain. Unlike the desert, the mountain looked as if it were able to sustain life. Small groups of grass trail up the base of the structure before creating a meadow of fertile green grass toward the top.
When we are all wide awake, we get ready and move toward the steep, grassy mountain. The mountain seems to stare down at us as we trudge forward. Slowly we begin to climb persistently up. In the same order as the previous day, we hike. Ahead the path seems quite clear of rocks and other debris. This gives us a sense of motivation. A small, what-seems-to-be boulder lies straight ahead. Father, ahead of us, decides to keep going without waiting for us, just to make sure that our oncoming path is safe. He raises his right leg and puts almost all his weight on the one, rather small boulder. The boulder, not deep enough in the ground, gives way and flips, making father lose all his balance. He falls backward. Seeing this I lurched forward to try to lift him up. Being that he is heavy, I try my best to keep feet rooted in the ground, but the gravel-like terrain make my feet slip inches behind the border of the mountain. By this time both my mother and brother aided me. My father had finally regains his balance, planting his feet shoulder width apart on the ground. The small boulder rolls past us until it reaches the boundary of the mountain where it plummets.