AN: Writing Prompt 3 The Vessel- Write about a ship or other vehicle that can take you somewhere different from where you are now.
"What's that?" Jasper nodded toward a strange looking metal contraption leaning against a tree.
"I think it's a bike." I pushed a strand of blonde hair away from my face so I could better examine it.
"Bike? I could use some more explanation than that Clarke." I looked up at him with a slight air of annoyance.
"You didn't do well in Earth History, did you?"
"Nah, Chemistry was my thing." He smiled as squeezed the small horn on one of the handles, causing us both to jump.
"Before the war, humans would use these for travel or recreation." I propped the bike upright. "You sit on it, and use these pedals to move you forward."
"Oh, exercise. Not interested." Jasper turned away with a smirk.
"No, this could be just what we need! This will be faster than running, and it should be fairly silent and go unnoticed by the Grounders! We could use this to ride past their camp and try and get the supplies we need from Mt. Weather!"
"Does it still work?" Jasper was finally interested in our new find.
"There's only one way to find out." I positioned the bike upright with one hand on each handlebar. Carefully I swung one leg over the bike so I was straddling it, facing the handle bars. "If you had paid any kind of attention in Earth History, you would know that riding a bike is a skill people would learn at a young age. They started off with training wheels, and gradually went down to only two. So, don't laugh if I mess up." Jasper placed one hand over his heart.
"If you fall, your secret is safe with me." I let out a breath as I tried to remember what people looked like when riding a bike in the films we watched. I placed my right foot on a pedal, pushed off, and tried to find the other pedal with my left foot. I wobbled on the bike for a about a meter as my foot was searching in the air, and then fell to the right. Jasper starts clapping behind me.
"And that was the graceful Clarke Griffin!"
"Shut up Jasper!" I righted myself and the bike, then climbed on one more time. "I'd like to see you do better!"
"That's ok, I like watching." He smiled and crossed his arms in front of him, clearly amused at my feeble attempt. Once more, I placed my right foot on the pedal and pushed off. This time, my left foot easily found its target. I started to pedal, and continued forward!
"I'm doing it!" I cheered as I wobbled, trying to find my balance!
"Yeah! Go Clarke!" I heard Jasper following behind me.
"I'm doing it!" The bike grew steady as I gained confidence and speed, but was no less bumpy. I steered around trees, over rocks, and through a small stream. I felt exhilarated, riding through the forest, the wind stinging my face. I let out a gleeful shout; Jasper echoed my sentiment behind me.
"You said this thing goes fast?" Jasper started running even with me; "I'll race you to that rock!" he nodded at a large boulder about 100 meters ahead.
"You're on!" I pedaled as fast as I could as Jasper sprinted ahead of me. I used every ounce of strength I had, but Jasper still beat me by far. I was completely winded when I reached the boulder, but Jasper hardly broke a sweat.
"Faster than running, huh?" Jasper cockily leaned against the boulder as I got off the bike to examine it.
"In theory, it should be much faster than someone on foot. I don't understand what's wrong!" I looked the bike over, and everything looked in order until. . . "The tires. They're flat. Nobody's touched this for over 97 years, of course they're flat!" I let out a large sigh as I sat on a smaller boulder letting the bike fall to the ground.
"If we were able to fill the tires with air, it should work properly?" I nodded.
"In theory, yes." Jasper picked up the bike with one hand and held it behind his back, while offering his other hand to me to help me stand.
"Come on, I think I know just the person to fix it back at camp."
AN: Please let me know what you think guys! It was interesting writing someone trying something so common for the first time, and I would love your feedback, good or bad! And the reason you guys are getting two of these today, is I was at The Hobbit movie marathon yesterday, so I didn't have time to write anything, so now I'm making up for it! Have a great day!