Wistcoástia (On Hiatus)

Chapter 26: Side by Side

Reena: The earth is spinning. Earth and sky roll in front of my eyes. I don’t know what’s happening anymore. I can’t see anything. The only thing that I am sure of is that there are strong arms around me…protecting me. Edward presses me more to his chest as we roll down.

“Edward!”

I notice him trying to slow or stop the both of us from tumbling down further. In between gaps, I see that we are going straight on a ravine. I’m not sure if I saw it right but my instincts tell me that we are in danger.

Whenever I’m on top, I try to grab on to something but with no success. Everything is just so slippery. Don’t tell me that we are going to die here? No!

“No matter what happens don’t let go of me, okay?” Edward says in my ear.

Despite the situation, my heart beat still has the knack to race at this moment. I understand what he said means, but why am I blushing for heaven’s sake??

But are we still gonna die?

“Don’t be afraid. We will not die.”

Since when is he able to read other’s thoughts, huh? And how can he say that I’m afraid? He’s probably right. Is this how it feels to be scared?

We roll over the last remaining piece of land and drop into the chasm. I don’t know what to expect because I haven’t fallen before and not even from a tree. I was an expert tree climber when I was a kid. So how does it feel to fall down to a place you don’t know?

But the feeling that I have now is being suspended in the air.

“Don’t let go, Reena!”

I look up and see him holding onto the edge of the ravine, struggling with effort.

“Edward!”

“Can you reach the other edge?”

I try letting go of my other arm that is wrapping around him but the feeling of falling down scares me.

“I can’t!”

“What?” Edward says. “You can do it!”

“No, I can’t!” shaking my head frantically.

“Reena, we are both going to fall down the river if you don’t try!”

I look down and see the river below us. Because of the rain, the water current is strong. I’m not sure what will happen to us if we fall down. I gulp.

I look up at Edward. His eyes only has one expression in them—the will to survive. So I try reaching the edge of the ravine with my left hand.

“Quickly!” he says. “I don’t think I can hold any longer!”

I struggle to reach it until I am able to. I remove myself from him and reach out with my right hand this time. I make sure that I am holding properly on the edge.

My arms sting immediately from supporting my weight. I can’t imagine Edward who was holding me earlier and supporting his own weight also be able to do this.

“I did it!”

“Now, can you try to climb over?”

What he said seems impossible because I don’t have energy left. But I still try. I slowly lift my body up using my arms and try to step on to something to hoist myself up, but my feet keeps slipping. Edwards is also doing the same thing.

We keep on trying until…

CRACK.

What’s that sound?