15 December 2012
"Autumn?" a voice asks. I spin around, wet, heavy snow blocking my view. "Autumn? Is that you?" The voice asks again. Suddently I recognize the voice. "Autumn!" I run. Run, run, untill white has blanketed me on all sides.
I keep walking untill the blizzard slows down a little. I think I lost Her. The full moon peaking over the far-off mountains gives off a glow that reflects off of the fresh snow. Off of that light, I set up camp for the night. I unzip my backpack and pull out the tent. I pull out the instructions and flip frantically through them. The light is too dim to read the print. Fustrated, I try to put up the tent out of memory. I've done this a million times before, yet my mind draws a blank as white and wide as the snow I'm standing in. This is not going to work.
. . . . .
"Is she alive?" a voice asks above me. "I don't think so. Maybe..." another voice says. "What if we throw the bucket of water on her face?" a third voice suggests. "That turned into ice a long time ago." the first voice answers. "Ohhhh... that explains a lot." I blink open my half-frozen eyelids. It's morning. The blizzard stopped, and I'm freezing inside my sub-polar sleeping bag. Three heads are staring over me. Two girls and one boy. One girl looks younger than me, the boy looks my age, and the other girl looks older than all of us, but not quite an adult. "She's alive!" The younger girl cries. I recognize her voice as voice #3. "Yeah, I'm alive," I sit up and brush the snow off my hat. "Thank God," The older girl bends down to help me. She's voice #2. "Thanks," I say as she helps me squeeze my puffy sleeping bag into a tight ball that will fit into it's bag. "No prob," she answers. There's an awkward silence. "Who are you?" voice #3 breaks the silence. "Ellie!" the boy scolds. "What?" the younger girl cocks her head in confusion. "Whaaat?" "It's okay!" I quickly put in. "It's okay. I'm Autumn." "Tessa," The older girl sticks out a hand. I shake it. "That's Keleb over there, and Ellie." There's a pause. "I haven't seen you in Kwena." "Kwena?" I ask, hitching my backpack on my shoulders. We start walking. "The village about 5 miles from here. You must not be from around here." I laugh. "No, I guess I'm not." "So then where are you from?" Ellie smiles. Keleb's about to say something, but I hold out my hand. "No, it's okay. I'm from America. Are we in...?" "No. It's Germany. On the Alps." Keleb answers. That explains the accents. "Okay. Um..." "We're going back to Kwena now. Do you want to come with us?" Tessa asks. "Sure." I'm not really sure where I was heading before. It was because of that helicopter. It was because of Her. We walk on. "How do you survive up here in the Alps?" I ask. "Indoor heating, of course." Keleb rolls his eyes. "How do you think?" "Well- I dunno! You said village, so I thought, well..." I sigh. "I don't know. Torches?" "Torches!" Keleb scoffs. "Torches. Wow. We do know what technology is!" "Then why are you out here without backpacks or supplies?" Tessa, Keleb, and Ellie look at each other. Ellie's about to say something, but Keleb shuses her. Tessa sighs. "We... were... in a hurry! Yes, in a hurry. That's why." Tessa rushes. "Why?" "Umm... Because... there was a bear...? A bear! And it was attacking Kwena! Yeah! So we had to leave or else it would eat us!" Tessa puts a fake frown on her face. "It was bad." "What she means is-" Keleb saves Tessa from her obvious lie. "There was a bear in our village. He was getting angry so our parents sent us away while they tryed to calm the bear. We Kwenians don't belive in hurting animals that don't need to die." I stare at them. I'm tempted to say 'Riiiight, and I flew to the top of Mount Everest on my flying unicorn' but I don't. They're obviously not saying why they left for a reason. "Okaaayyy..." "But-" Ellie trys to say something, but Keleb puts a hand over her mouth. "-mmooddeydaadudoudadow!" "Ellie! Hush!" Tessa scolds. Something is definatly not right.
. . . . . .
We walk for a while in silence, and it seems like more than five miles to me. Maybe it's the snow. Maybe it's my sense of timing. Maybe I'm just loosing it. But we're still not there by the time night comes.
January, Chapter 1 • Opuss № I