THE GIFTED

CHAPTER 8

FIRE AND ICE MEET

Candice

I am tired. I am exhausted. I don't want to run anymore.

I had a dream. In the dream, Daphne told me where I had to go. She told me that I had to go home. Not the orphanage but my home in Nexus. To be frank, I don't want to go back. There is nothing left there for me to go back to. But other than this clue I have no other lead. My only other option is to go back to the orphanage. Not for the first time, I wonder why I left my (replacement) home.

As far as I know, Nexus is about twenty kilometres away. I will have to walk the whole way.

I have some bread with jam and guzzle down water. I slowly realize that I am starting to run low on essentials. I need to get to Nexus as fast as possible. But first I needed to make my way out of these woods and make my way to the road. That was the hard part.

As I trudged along I heard the sound of wild animals and fell multiple times. For two consecutive hours, I kept trying to find my way through the woods. I could see the sun shining overhead. I checked my watch it said that it was ten 'o'clock. My hair stuck to my neck with sweat. Soon it was noon and I was parched. In my dizzy state, I didn't watch where I was going. I lost my footing and fell into a bog. I don't know how but I did.

Pro tip: If you find yourself in a bog, do not struggle. It makes the situation worse. I tried to think of anything, anything at all. My mind raced. The mud rose to my chest. It was squeezing the breath out of my lungs. I was inevitably trapped. I imagined myself dead in the bog. No one would find me. No one would care.

My hands felt hot, the flames were back. Not with much force as my hands were wet with the mud from the bog. I didn't know how they could help me now. But I knew one thing, the flames came when I panicked. And panicking would not help me now. I lowered my breathing and calmed myself.

I pushed the negative thoughts out of my mind.

I looked around for anything that could be a blessing in disguise. I spotted a loose vine hanging above me. I grabbed hold of it and pulled. It gave me leverage and I started to climb using the vine. The weight of the bag didn't help. At last, after much effort, I found myself on dry ground. My clothes were wet and stuck to my body, uncomfortably. I felt a nasty rash coming on my thigh.

I looked through my bag. The eatables were all spoiled as the muck had gotten into my bag. The water was still drinkable though. The flashlight, kitchen knives, my diary and extra clothes were still safe. (I had put my diary and clothes into a plastic bag)

I felt weird about changing in the woods and so continued walking with mud clinging on to me. Up ahead I saw a clearing in the trees. I was ecstatic. It was the road. I had made it out of that miserable forest. The road looked like it went on forever. And soon my happiness transformed into self-pity.

I was dehydrated. My last bottle of water was over. My stomach rumbled, which startle me terribly. I had never known that feeling, the feeling of being hungry. I had always been fed delicious and nutritious food three times a day. I had no reason to feel hungry. But I guess there is a first time for everything. I look ahead and there is no one around. The road shimmers, a mirage.

My body is at its weakest. My legs feel like they are sticks supporting an elephant's weight. (Not at all implying that I am an elephant) My vision starts to blur. I can't do anything; I can't even lift my hand. The ground under me gives way and I fall right on to the burning tarmac. My arm hurts real bad. It's throbbing. The telltale signs of an infection. I don't know how long I was lying there unable to move. All of my energy reserves are used up.