Straws

Chapter 8

Who knew something with a scenery so beautiful and alive could be so gloomy and aching. I take one last look at the trees and pond in the middle of the field. My one fascination has faced assassination as Winnie breaks my parting thoughts.

"I grabbed her golden straw,"Winnie announces beside me, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence,"A symbol as we all know that we need to function as one unit and work as a team. We need to put aside our differences. We have to. We are down two."

"I think one down is much different than the other,"Cleo scoffs,"You can't seriously categorize Dakari like Ingrid." Graham steps up to face an angry Cleo.

"That's not what she means. Logically, we have two less people with us. You obviously disregarded everything she just said by looking for an opportunity to jump at someone. What we just witnessed was something scarring and a stamp we will carry for life. It's expected for emotions to be heightened or suppressed right now but you have to try to ignore them if you want any chance at trying to finish this thing,"Graham defends Winnie.

"Ignore them? You clearly have never had trauma,"Cleo hisses.

"I watched my dad die. I know enough about it,"Graham deadpans.

"This is not the time for this. That is not what Winnie meant to do and that's not how Graham meant it. I know you're obviously hurt, angry, sad and feeling everything all at once. We all are. No need to spin words and attack people,"Soren steps closer to Cleo, grabbing her shoulders. She looks defiant but softens her stance as he finishes speaking.

"I'm sorry, Winnie. You're right, grabbing her golden straw was a good idea,"Cleo apologizes and it doesn't sound genuine and she doesn't try to hide it either. She said it from the beginning, she doesn't like fake people. She's not hiding, as stupid as I think the reason she is mad at Winnie is, I respect the fact that she is not going to hide that she is upset.

"Now let's try to keep moving. I know our bodies are tired but until we are told to stop, we shouldn't. Until we can't walk anymore, we walk. We are all finishing this together,"Landon voices. Everyone takes a beat and the air is still for a moment. The outdoors is so suffocating.

"I don't know. Maybe we should try to take a break. We are emotionally and physically draining. We can't hide from our fears. If anything, I think we learned they are fears for a reason"Soren pauses,"A break might be needed to be able to not hide,"Soren finishes. I can't help but think back to Ingrid's comment about me sitting in the corner as it comes to mind. Instead of feeling angry, I feel inspired. We have voices for a reason, so I use mine.

"Drained, we are not draining. We are drained,"I correct. Soren turns to me and nods, which ignites me to continue,"However, we need to keep going for as long as we can, like Landon said. If we stop, who knows when we will regain a burst of any sort of energy. I hate to be reminded of the elephant in the room, but the ground below us is haunted. Do you seriously think this is a place to stop?"I question. Silence follows for a moment.

"Let's go then,"Arizona chimes in, eyes puffy. My heart breaks for her. Instead of responding to her, we all walk off the platform and towards the bronze doors, leaving the previous conversation behind us. I hope Dakari is doing okay on his own. I wonder if he gets exactly what we get. It would surely be quicker without the hold of our golden straw clump. My thoughts are, once again, shut off when soren hands press up against the bronze doors. I don't get what happened to sliding ones. I guess pushing is more suspenseful and fear igniting.

Looks like we are back to dark colors. The room literally has black walls. But as people step aside and I am able to see more, I see the room for it really is. There is a sunlight piece of glass coming from the middle that shines down at water. Water. A pool. The rest of the room is filled with black color, the sun shining down into the pool being the only thing bringing in light. The edges of the room call for no one, looking mysterious and probing a mystery that doesn't want to be solved. The glass stands with the familiar screen, almost like a family member at this point, stands in front of the square pool, inviting us to take a deeper journey into the ominous room. I can't help but feel that seeing the water has brightened up my mood just a bit. Weary and stunned from what we just saw, we slowly approach the glass stand with hesitation.