Rush Above Sea Level

Chapter 3: One more shot

My head is throbbing, the pain echoed in my head. I don't know what happened, but the injury wasn't big, my head was just a little bruised. After blinking a few times, my vision got clearer. The surroundings felt the same yet it didn't, my gut told me something wasn't the same. The sun looked like it was nearly about to set, I must have blacked out for about four hours. I was only at the brim of the forest, leaves were scattered everywhere. I slowly walked down the curved dirt towards the main, sandy road. I grasped the strap of my backpack, the view of the mountain changed. It was all...water. I blinked a few times, it was only a dream, I would wake up soon. I would wake up to a world where things were normal, but what is normal really? After seeing that it was no use and reality was really, a world flooded without any signs of human life, I just bent down and stopped working. But I had to survive, for those who weren't fortunate and to find the rest of us who survived...

The fire burnt furiously, blazing the wood mercilessly. I suppose I could say fire is an art and a good heater, both don't sound like a very likely match. It was near evening, Twinkle was beside the dining table, flipping through Jerry's go fish cards. Jerry was gazing at his blistered fingers, his terrible pose in archery came with a price. Jesse was flipping through a book while Cruellum was ranting about how spirits worked to all of us. Jerry looked at me and rolled his eyes as Cruellum talked about how redheads were devil's work. I giggled, Cruellum humphed and yelled

"This is why your parents didn't care where you were when you skipped school!"

I winced, the whole cabin fell silent.

"Mr. Prancil, I will not tolerate such behavior in my house!" Jerry growled and walked towards Cruellum, his voice sharp.

"Or else what?" Cruellum narrowed his eyes in scorn.

"You. Will. Be. Kicked. Out." Jerry declared.

Cruellum seemed taken aback but spat

"I'd like to see you try."

With a sudden motion, he ran for Jerry's bow and threw it into the fire. Jerry pinned Cruellum to the ground and kicked him in the gut.

"I'm not afraid to try." He snarled.

I stuck my shoe in the fire and instantly hooked the bow towards me. It was barely burned but the strings were a bit scorched. Jerry quickly held the bow in his arms, he cursed, glaring at Cruellum. Jesse rushed to Cruellum and checked for injuries. She mouthed "what is wrong with you?" at Jerry. Jerry pointed at his bow and grunted, rushing for the door. Twinkle still sat there, looked at me and smiled weakly. He motioned for me to join him in go fish, staring disapprovingly at Cruellum. Cruellum groaned and swatted away any help from Jesse, he limped back into his room and slammed the door. Jesse sat defeated next to Twinkle, he patted her on the back and handed her a hand of cards. She stared at it for a moment before picking it up and grinned at me.

We played for about half an hour, me wining most rounds, Twinkle winning some, and Jesse winning one or two. During mid game, Jesse suddenly dropped her cards and gripped her head. Twinkle noticed and put his hand on her shoulder

"Don't feel bad, it's not your fault people argue." Twinkle assured.

Jesse nodded "But I can't convince either to agree,"

She looked at me and put her right hand on mine,

"It's not your fault, what Mr. Prancil said...he didn't mean it."

I returned an understanding smile and stared down at my go fish cards. Maybe they really didn't care about me, teammates who argued sometimes don't mend, some things can't be repaired. But aren't parents supposed to love their children? Twinkle wanted to open his mouth to say something but closed his mouth. I grimly walked to the door and sat down on the grassy floor. The sky really looks nicer without pollution. I could still hear what was going on inside, Twinkle was talking with Jesse. I wasn't particularly interested in hearing adult conversations but I have ears, and so I used them.