Chapter Eleven: My Life HereAfter by Rosaline Saul

Even though we are able to see our surroundings, the forest is still dark and gloomy. We have to keep pushing branches and leaves away from us as we try to navigate our way through the trees growing close to each other, in a haphazard way. Most of the forests I have seen in my life were planted in perfect symmetry. The trees grew in straight lines and I loved watching the way the lines flowed whenever we drove past a forest on our way to the campsite where we spend our each and every family holiday.

Below, at our feet, it is still dark and black. When I look down, I cannot see where my feet are and I hope and pray I do not step on something creepy, or even into a hole. I would not want to twist my ankle. I doubt Carly or, even Mark will be able to carry me to safety.

Every now and again, Mark stops walking and cranes his head up to the sky. There are faint glimmers of sunlight bouncing about in the leaves way up in the tops of the trees.

“Are you trying to see if we are walking in a straight line?”

Without looking at me, keeping his head tilted skyward, he mumbles, “Give me a second.”

I wait for him. Hunger pains are starting to gnaw at my stomach lining.

After what feels like more than a couple of seconds, he looks back at me. He looks troubled. “I think we’re still walking in the right direction.”

That doesn’t sound very positive, the little man on my shoulder whispers sarcastically.

“You said we’d get there quickly.”

Carly says worried, “I don’t want to be here when it gets dark again.”

Impatiently Mark slaps a twig out of his way as he turns his back on us. “Then keep moving.”

After walking for another hour, the muscles in my thighs start to burn from lifting them repeatedly up and over fallen branches and who knows what else hidden in the shadows at our feet, I cannot help myself anymore. “I’m hungry.”

Carly adds, out of breath, “And thirsty.”

“I am sure we’re almost there,” Mark assures us. “When I looked out over the forest yesterday, it didn’t seem so far. We’ll get to the other side any minute now.”

Not likely.

“I cannot even see an end to the forest yet,” I complain.

“Let’s just keep walking,” Mark insists.

You should have left him to find his own brother. We are going to starve out here. Die again.

I ignore the voice in my head, the little man on my shoulder. My closest companion since just before my sixth birthday. He started off as my invisible friend, but I never outgrew him. He stayed and I let him.

Stepping aside so Carly can pass me, I let her walk between me and Mark. I wonder what my mum and dad are doing. I miss home and I wish I could close my eyes and be back there in my room, get together with Lionel and Charlene like it was just a few days ago. Now it seems like forever away. Is my mum crying? I hope not. I wish I could pick up the phone and call her, tell her I am okay, and she should not miss me. I am stuck here and even though I am dreaming of home, I am sure I’ll be okay. If I could go back for just a day, maybe even just for a second, to see my mum and dad’s faces once more, just so I could imprint them in my memory, just in case I ever forget what they look like. Are they okay? I hope so.

If only they knew I am okay, I would feel a lot better.

As if Mark can feel my sudden melancholy, he glances over his shoulder at me. His eyes connect with mine and in his eyes, I see the same sadness I am feeling. His eyes look haunted and sad, even though his lips are set in a determined line. I remember when I touched his hand for the first time, and I saw how he took care of his sister. Now he looked at me in that same manner.

Carly interrupts the moment between Mark and me, “I can hear water or is it just my imagination.”

I listen intently. “Me too. I am so thirsty.”

Carly starts running to the sound.

“Wait, Carly. Be careful,” Mark runs after her to slow her down.

I run after them. My foot squelches into something soft and gooey, but I do not care. If I lose sight of Mark and Carly now, I might not find them again.

I run into Mark, and my hands grab his shirt to steady myself. I feel the ripple of his muscles under his shirt and quickly I pull my hands away.

He is staring up at a cliff which goes up straight into the sky as far as my eyes can see and beyond. “Where did that come from?” I ask him in a soft, awed whisper.

“I don’t know. We would have seen it. It’s so high, we would have seen it from the hill.” He looks at me for confirmation. “Wouldn’t we have seen it?”

I nod my head. “It would have been impossible to miss.”

“Well, this is a dead end then. There is no way we’ll be able to climb over that.”

“What if we went around?”

Carly asks, “What if we are not supposed to go from the one side to the other. This means we should turn around and go back.”

“No way! I have to find my brother.”

“But it’s impossible now. This is a sign, there is no way over this thing. Even if we could climb mountains, we don’t have the right shoes or gear, and besides, can you see how high it is? I cannot see where it stops.” Carly looks at me with her signature worry frown. “You think we should carry on and not go back?”

I shrug my shoulders. “I agreed to help Mark, and this is important to him. We should try, at least, to get around. Don’t you think?”

Carly pushes a large branch of leaves blocking our way forward and reveals a sparkling blue pool of thirst-quenching liquid heaven. She immediately runs forward and into the pool until she is standing waist high in a mass of blue, sparkling water, even before Mark’s warning has left his lips.

“It looks okay,” I say as I follow Carly. “Come.”

We wade into the water and it spills against my body in refreshing little waves.

Carly laughs, for the moment the worried look on her face is replaced by a look of happiness. She splashes her hand in the water and I step back reflectively, into Mark, who is standing right behind me.

His hands come up to circle my upper arms and I can feel the warmth from his touch soak through the thin cotton material of my shirt, yet a shiver scampers down my spine.

The feeling fills my heart with warmth and a feeling of joy overflows within me, as I quickly move away from him and bend my knees to dunk my head under the water. I stay under the water until my lungs start to burn, begging for a gasp of fresh air.

When I come back out of the water, Mark and Carly is having a water splashing fight.

I scoop water into my hands and bring it to my lips, drinking the clean, translucent water. It quiets the hunger pangs I am feeling.

My hands make small waves on the surface of the pool, and as the circles move away from me, thoughts of my mum and dad come back to me again. Are they worried about me? I miss my home and I believe I will get back home. I am not entirely sure how, but I am determined to get back. Even if I have to haunt them for the rest of their lives, there are so many things I should have said. Things I did not say. I am a fighter, and I will get there. After I had helped Mark to find his brother, I will take my life back – not yet sure how – but I am going to do it. Become a guardian angel, do well at it, and then even if it is against the rules to contact my family again, I am sure I will find a way.

A splash of water brings me back to the here and now. “Hey.” I laugh as I splash water back at Mark.

He swims down into the water and seconds later, his arms circle around my legs. I fall backwards and luckily I close my mouth and pinch my nose between my fingers before my head plunges in under the water.

I come up out of the water very unladylike, spluttering like a fish on dry land and try not to look at how the shirt is clinging to the contours of his muscles. He is standing too close to me, and suddenly it makes me feel incredibly nervous.

He looks down at me and the way he is looking at me feels as if he sees right into me. As if he can see what makes me, who I am. Did he also get some sort of superpower when he arrived here, and he is not talking about it?

I decide to ask him. “Remember I told you I could see things when I touched your hand for the first time?”

“Yeah.”

Unsure I continue, “Can you do that as well.”

He laughs softly. “No, but I do have this strange feeling I need to protect you.”

“Maybe it’s because you looked after your sister for so long, now you’ve transferred that feeling to me.”

“Maybe.” He is looking at me intensely again as if he is trying to figure out what he needs to protect me from.

Carly says loudly from behind Mark, “We will need to get out. It’s getting dark quickly.”

I break eye contact with Mark and look up at the sky. The trees are packed in a tight circle around the one side of the pool while the incredibly high cliff soars into the sky on the side of us. The semi-circle of blue sky above us, are starting to turn a strange hue of grey.

“So, I suppose we were walking the wrong direction all day long.”

Carly starts to wade out of the pool. “I really did not want to spend another night in this place.”

“Me neither,” I agree with her.

Mark says, exasperated, “We’re here now. The forest wasn’t so big, so we’ll reach the end of it soon. If we walk straight in that direction, we’ll get there before it gets too dark.” He lifts his hand and points his finger straight ahead of us.

“I hope you’re right.”

Continue reading Chapter 12/25

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