CHAPTER 1
My calves burned and sweat poured down my face as my friend, Josephine, Jo, for short, broke through the line of trees. My long, curly blonde hair clung to the back of my neck where I had pulled it into a loose bun. I must have had at least ten blisters on my feet due to the hiking boots that I had recently purchased for this trip. I looked around and realized, with horror, that we had completely lost the trail. We had been on a hiking trip for two weeks now, but we lost our trail during a storm a few days ago. I had thought that I found a way back, but I was sorely mistaken.
"I'm so sorry Jo! I thought this would get us beck to the trail, but I was wrong. Now we're even worse off than we were before!" I cried, dismayed and furious at myself for doing something this stupid.
"Don't beat yourself up over this Jas. I was the one who got us lost. I should be the one apologizing. I mean we'll find our way back eventually right, we have to," Jo replied, her words becoming rushed and nervous towards the end. She called me Jas, but my full name is Jasmine. Jo is one of the only people who can get away with calling me Jas and not have to face the horrible consequences that would usually follow.
"It's getting dark. Why don't we just build a fire and eat something. There's nothing we can do now but wait for tomorrow and hope we find something that will lead us back to the trail, or run into more hikers," I suggested, shivering. The temperature had dropped considerably in the past few days, which worried me. Neither Jo or I had thought to bring anything warmer than a flannel shirt. We were backpacking and we needed to pack lightly. If the temperature continued to drop the way it has then we could be facing possible hypothermia, or even death. I grimaced at the thought of dying out in the wilderness and tried to push the thought out of my head, but a feeling of dread now pervaded my thoughts.
We started a fire, subconsciously moving close to it to attempt to warm our freezing limbs. Jo and I tried to keep up light conversation, but we soon fell into silence, neither one of us wanting to say what was on our minds- we were going to freeze to death if we did not find better shelter, or help.
"We have to move. Let's try going back the way we came. I know it is dark now, but if we don't our fate could be much worse. I wish my flashlight was working. At least we could see where we were going. If we don't find anything at least we will keep warm by moving," I said, breaking the silence. In a frenzy, we gathered our things, shoving them into our packs and doused the fire. We made our way, slowly, back into the forest, trying not to trip on any roots or rocks. A twisted ankle would not benefit our situation right now.
It seemed like we were hiking for hours when Jo finally gasped, "I can't keep doing this. I need to take a break. Let's sit down. I need to rest against a tree."
"All right, but we have to keep moving. I don't want to die out here!"
"Do you think I do? I've been blindly following you, trying to keep up with you. If it weren't for you, maybe I'd have found a way out of this mess! Why do you have to be such a jerk! I'll rest as long as I feel like it. You can go on without me if you want to continue trying to save yourself. Dying out here would be better than dealing with your attitude," Jo snarled. I was shocked and hurt by her words. I knew I should not have replied, but I could not help myself as the words slipped out of my mouth.
"Fine! I will! But while you're dying, know that I won't feel any remorse. When I get the tragic call that you died I'll laugh and think how obnoxious you were and how you deserved what you got," As soon as I finished, I instantly felt guilty. I paused for a minute, wanting to apologize, but also wanting to run away from her. I was torn between my feelings of guilt and those of hurt and betrayal.
"What are you waiting for? Get out of here! I don't need you. I hope you fall off a cliff while you're hiking in the middle of the night," Jo snarled.
"Ok! Great! If that's what you really want!" I ran into the forest, hot tears spilling from my eyes. I walked blindly for the next hour. I didn't care where I was going. All I could think about was our fight and how terrible I felt. Jo was right, I deserved to die. I shouldn't have responded that way to Jo. I sighed and fell against a tree. To my surprise, I felt myself falling backwards. The tree was hollow.
As I fell, I thought I must have hit my head, because I felt myself falling through clouds and a cover of trees into a forest. I screamed as my body collided with the ground. I looked around and saw a beautiful palace before darkness consumed my vision and I felt my grasp on reality slip.