THE BLAME

A hidden sign.

Small white puffs started appearing, then larger ones crept from behind them. They absorb the blush pink, revealing a faint outline of the distended clouds. The towering ridges of rock and soil developed a mahogany shade as the sky turn baby blue mixed with the tangerine hue.

Her eyelashes were moist with dewdrops from the fog dispersion, her heavy hoodie damp, and jeans dewy. The tranquil morning sun rays peek through the tiny crevices of floating cotton, awakening the resting girl slumped against a log, bark damp from the mist.

She curled her toes which enclosed within her boots, cold with stiffness, and stretched the rest of her joints. 

It's already morning,  she thought, yawning. A crisp morning, yet extremely numbing to the bone.

As she removed her hoodie, a chill breeze then fleeted past, chilling her bare arms. Thinking logically, she crumples the fabric tight, twisting it to extract as much condensation as possible.

She took one long look around her, observing her surroundings more clearly than the previous night. Apart from the small songbirds and minibeasts singing their natural melodies, there's utter stillness. Well, sort of; her stomach started growling.

                                                                                            ***

Meanwhile, back at the campsite...

Early morning buzz from the kitchen and the campers awoke Lucas. Jolting upwards inside his tent upon remembering the incident the night before:

"Where is Mirah?"

A few campers were horrified, all looking at each other in question. "Wasn't she in your group?" Jamie asked Ben.

"I know for a fact that she was with Ben and Jessica in a group," Lucas interrupted. A few campers continue to chew their s' mores innocently, while others jostled frantically. The camp leaders got up in a hurry, each doing what they have been assigned to do in case of an emergency. One or two of them acquired the campers' attention and composed their behavior.

Some other camp leaders gathered around, clearly discussing their plan of action. A thorough search for Mirah was implemented. Campers were instructed to return to their tents immediately and roll call took place. Three other camp leaders searched the campsite from the least likely to the most obvious hiding places.

Their search only resulted in two conclusions:

One, Mirah wasn't present and nowhere to be found on camp; two, so was Asher.

                                                                                        ***

Oh well, a girl can't have everything, right?  Her humor did its part in lighting up her current state of hunger.

Mirah inhaled deeply, enjoying the fresh morning air all to herself. At least she has some alone time now. She decided to embrace the nature around her for a while by putting her hair up, tying her sweatshirt around the waist, and rolling the jean's legs up just above the ankle.

Just as she stood up from her sitting position, she noted the great number of ants scurrying for food together, communicating with the other, and trusting that they know where to go, unlike her position. She has been left in the middle of a trail promised they'd journey together, although in the middle of the night.

As she was lonely then, it jogged her memory of how alone she used to be until she had met Lucas. He fell in love with her almost immediately, by her independence and her kindness she has toward strangers. His words would linger even after he had left, his excitement of life had seemed so surreal to her. Although she has the golden blonde locks, and he the darker brown, he amounted to be her sun.

Albeit her longing for Lucas' presence and support, she is reminded of how much she still cares for Asher; his support he could offer wasn't what she needed, his love and attention were too aggressive for her gentleness, however, she could always rely on him. Not as a substitute, but ever-present when the blazing sky becomes twilight as the sun sets, giving rise to the luminous moon taking its place.

At the time of her self development, she required a gentle relationship, allowing her to grow and experience new things. Lucas was the one to provide her with that.

Her mind infused with memories, a simper tugged at her mouth. Just as her attentiveness could alter her clear vision of mother nature, she detected a particularly odd-shaped object, poking out from behind a much larger rock. Curiosity killing the cat, Mirah took the responsibility upon her to inspect closer.

Confusion had altered a clear expression, and she suddenly had a very important question to ask:

Why would the camp leaders hide the trail signs pointing the groups in the right direction for their night walk behind a rock, invisible without further investigation?