Escaping Expectations

Chapter 3

The young man with the pure white hair looked kindly towards me and said softly "Lily, take my hand." Extending his slim fingers towards me, I touched them with mine. A warm feeling built up around me as we slowly started floating. My eye slowly teared up when an immense glowing feeling grew more and more, leaving me with an overwhelming sense of happiness. I couldn't help but return his smile as we elevated higher and higher, slowly approaching the sky. I glanced below where the ground was getting farther now, shrinking. He lifted my chin up. "Don't you ever look down. Always look towards the sky. Look how beautiful it is." He said as he was himself looking up. I smiled. "It is." I looked in awe at the beautiful blinding light when the boy said a soft "Lily. Hey Lily." I looked back at him and he smiled "Your alarm is ringing."

I woke up to a plywood ceiling and started to remember where I was. "Are you going to get this or should I come up and shut it myself?" I rubbed my eyes and started to be aware of my iPod's chime alarm. "Oh. Sorry." I rolled over and turned off the morning alarm.

My mouth and throat were dry and my head was turning. "Ugh..." I let out, as I crawled over to the ladder. "You good up there?" The boy called from below as I blindly searched for a step with my foot. "Why did I get the top one..." I mumbled to myself, irritated.

Once I was on the cold linoleum floor, I looked around for water to ease the sandpaper of a throat I had. I seemed to be out of luck. I could see the sun starting to rise and remembered why I had to get up this early. "Oh my god! We have to go!" But Max was a few steps ahead and was tying his shoes. "Indeed." He pushed mine with a gentle nudge of his foot. "Put your sneakers and let's get rollin'!" He tried his best to sound cheerful but it was muffled by his hangover. He looked at the tiny fridge, I hadn't noticed, under the counter and took a step in its direction and went. "Wonder if he put some more last time.. ah.. of course not." He swung the empty fridge door close and claimed he knew a fresh water source on the way so we could drink. With this, we left the camp.

*****

The morning air helped my headache and increasing nausea, which I was very grateful for. I looked at the beautiful scenery as we took the trails that led to my home with admiration. I couldn't believe I lived in such a magnificent area. The never ending forests and mountains that surrounded the tiny city felt safe. You could explore them anytime and find gorgeous waterfalls and fresh water sources. Clearings where you could set a tent and spend the weekend in the intimacy of the woods with family or friends were very common too. Why would anyone leave a place like this?

At this very moment, I swore to myself that I would never leave this place behind for anything. Anyone would be crazy to do such a thing. Who wouldn't want a simple and happy life on the country side? I really couldn't find a reason at the time.

The smell of the wet soil and fern made this morning all the more magical. I couldn't bring myself to worry about arriving home before mother. It was as if all the worries in the world had disappeared. I looked up at the tree tops to see the bright orange sun rays passing in between them. 'wow...' I thought 'How can anything be this marvellous?' It looked as if the pine trees cut through the light.

My thoughts were paused as the ATV came to a complete stop. "Want water?" Max muffled through his helmet. "Yeah!" I replied simply. We walked our way to a small water source and kneeled beside it. We cupped our hands as if to make bowls and caught the fresh, cool liquid. As I drank, I felt my throat coming back to life and my whole body reviving. "Ahhhh! That is so good!" I exclaimed in relief. My friend also looked pleased with the natural beverage. "We should get going already." He stated. I nodded.

We quickly got back on the red motor vehicle, we were almost arrived at destination. Maybe it was the familiar surrounding that made anxiety grow inside of me. Maybe it was the fact that it started to be pretty late. I didn't know. However, the closer to home we got, the more the nausea built up.