Her gathered her thoughts back into her head as she jolted up and looked around. There was little light in the room, but she was back in the main room of the base. She looked at her hands, and found herself completely unharmed.
It was all a dream… she thought to herself. Riley wiped a single drop of sweat from her face and took a deep breath. It couldn't be true… could it? She looked over at Jewel then Mack. She shook her head and let out a little giggle.
"My mind is just a little out of it…" Riley assured herself and as placed her head on the pillow to go back to sleep.
Jewel, Mack, and Riley all slept in past noon. Mack was the first one to wake up and realize that it was late in the afternoon. Jewel's stomach growled, causing her to wake up next. She looked at Mack with a look of hunger and offered to go out to find more food. Mack threw an apple at Jewel. At first, Jewel ate the apple gratefully, but when she was half-way done with it, she realized what she was eating.
"Where did this apple come from?" Jewel stared at the ripened red apple with confusion. Mack smiled and said,
"I got up a half-hour before you and I found a bunch of them. I picked enough for us to last a couple more days until the taxi comes back to pick us up." The two smiled. They knew that they'd need more than apples to eat, but it was a start.
Riley sensed food while she was sleeping. She barely opened one eye to see Jewel and Mack eating apples. She automatically sat up.
"Give me one, right now!" She demanded. Mack swiftly opened the fridge door, pulled out a shiny apple, then tossed it to Riley. She caught it, and took a huge bite, chewing the piece as if there would be nothing else to eat for months. The girls ate without speaking a word, and then stared at each other. Mack got up and turned on the radio.
Good afternoon! This is DJ Freeze and Sunny in the morning, keeping things hot but completely cool! Tonight's forecast is full of rain and thunder! So bring out those umbrellas, because things are going to be very wet! But now here's Between the Trees "The Way She Feels" here on 102.6.
The music began to play, and the three of them just stared at each other once more. Mack slowly inched towards her pillow, but then glanced at Jewel and Riley. She reached out her hand towards the pillow for a moment then scrunched her eyes.
"I can't do it!" Mack screamed. She grabbed the razor from her pillow, broke it in half, and threw it away. She sat down next to Jewel and looked her in the eye. Jewel gave her a hug and whispered,
"Thank you." It was all Jewel wanted since she had found out that Mack was doing self-harm. She now felt relief come over her. Jewel no longer had to worry about Mack's nasty habit. Riley smiled at Mack who was now leaning against Jewel's shoulder, begging for forgiveness. She moved over towards the two, and gave Mack a hug from the other side.
Mack wiped some tears from her eyes. She let out a sigh then managed to smile.
"It's one step to recovery, isn't it?" Mack looked into Jewel's eyes, hoping for an answer.
"Yes, Mack." Jewel squeezed Mack harder. "It is. You're doing a good thing by throwing that thing away." The friends finally felt some peace overcome them. Jewel looked at the clock. It was almost 4:30.
"We should probably search for some more food besides the apples." Jewel stated. Riley and Mack both nodded, and they all got up. Jewel walked out the door first. Mack and Riley both followed her and they went their separate ways.
Jewel walked around for awhile. Nothing came to her. She looked up at the sky and wished for Mack and Riley to have better luck than she did at the time.
The sun was starting to fade. Jewel sighed and decided it was time for her to head back to base. The blooming spring flowers were turning bright colors and Jewel found amazement in it. Then she caught something. It was a lone picnic basket.