CHAPTER 10: MALLORY
By EditorNia
Last year, when I was 14, I fell down a cliff, and then fell in love. That sounds kinda weird, doesn't it? Let me start from the beginning, and tell you how it happened. See, I was camping with my global studies class—we were studying ecology—at Riverbend (I've been camping—proper camping, with tents and packs and stuff—before, and I just love it!), in a hilly area of Massachusetts, and we were kinda spread out, each of us looking for specific animals and plants. Of course I wasn't really watching where I was going—and I fell! There was this small cliff, and I'd wandered to the edge of it, and fallen right off! No safety lines, no crash helmets, no carabineers, nothing!
I'm pretty sure I hit my head when I fell, 'cause the next thing I knew, I was aching all over, and this cute guy was standing over me, asking if I was all right. Well, of course I wasn't all right! What a stupid thing to ask! I was so sore I could barely move, my mouth was dry, my heart was pounding about a thousand times a minute, and my brain couldn't seem to get my mouth to form words. Maybe I'd hit my head harder than I thought?
Cute guy said his name was Ezra, and he'd be back in a little while—he was going off to get me some help. He was leaving! I tried to get him to not leave, but the words 'don't go!' got all tangled up between my brain and my mouth—all that came out was some weird garbled noise.
Anyway, Ezra realized somehow that I didn't want to be alone right then, so he stayed with me for a while more. That part's still a little fuzzy—I can't remember a whole lot about my fall of the aftermath of it. Ezra says he can remember the entire thing— probably because he was so scared. Me? Just a hazy cloud, with some fuzzy memories thrown into the mix.
Eventually, when the shock of the fall wore off, I could move a bit. Ezra helped me up into a sitting position, and that's all I remember for a while, except for when Ezra took off his sweater and put it on me. I guess I must have been shivering or something. And he noticed! He seemed to notice every little thing about me! It was kinda nice—the thing I held onto when all my other thoughts were floating hazily away. He noticed me!
A while later—Ezra tells me it was a couple of hours, but it strangely didn't feel that long—we heard my Riverbend friends (and teachers) calling my name. They sounded kinda distant, but they would eventually come closer.
"Mallory?"
I looked up at Ezra.
"Is that your name?"
I nodded, somewhat clumsily.
"Hi, Mallory, I'm Ezra. Nice to meet you," he smiled.
I smiled back, the biggest, friendliest smile I could manage. What else could I do? Apparently I wasn't up to talking yet, so smiling would just have to do.
Ezra explained that he was on a class trip, too—only he went to a wilderness school up here in Mass. He knew how to camp better than I did, and entertained me with funny stories until our help finally arrived—in the form of my classmates and his. He stayed with me then, too; insisted on it in fact! He got someone to give him some paper and a pen, and he wrote down his school address, his e-mail, and his birthday and full name for me! Then he asked if he could write to me at school! I nodded 'yes,' and then Smita and Sarah wrote down my school address and e-mail for me. They included my birthday, full name, and likes and dislikes, I found out later! What good friends!
Ezra and I are still together today. We write letters and e-mails, we talk on Skype (when I'm home), and we try to get together sometimes when we're at school. This is love! To think—all I needed to find true love was to fall down a cliff! Simple, huh?