CHAPTER 35

CONFESSING THE LETTERS

CAROL`S POV:

I was left in a dream surrounded by fields of flowers as I was sitting under an oak tree, looking at the sky and its moving clouds. I was woken up by a sudden sound that made me think a phone was ringing nearby. My eyes looked to see Cole holding his cell phone and checking the ID on it. The buzzing stopped and Cole turned off the noise. I was hoping he would hear the voice mail when he had the chance, but instead he threw the phone out into the trees, never to be seen again. I didn't ask why he did so. Perhaps he saw who the person was and didn't want to have anything to do with them. He was starting to become me. He was ignoring his family members and friends and decided not to have any contact with them again. It's only been a day since we left the village. Well, it's only been about ten hours. It was ten in the morning and Cole looked like he was about to fall asleep.

"Why don't you let me drive for a little while?" I asked.

"No, I'm good," Cole said, "I can travel for another hour or two."

"I think it's best if we stop somewhere for a while. Why don't we take a break and call it a day?"

"If you say so. Let me just find a place for us to camp out at."

We found a pretty good strip of land that seemed like a good spot to rest. Cole went out to find some firewood while I searched through the coolers and found a carton of eggs. The bread was placed on top of the small cooler so it wouldn't squish. I found a cooking pan to use and decided to build a pan holder to place over the fire. Using two sticks, two branches and some strong rope, I placed the pan in the rope holder to see if the pan would stay. It did. I just made a new invention using nothing but the tools outside of nature. Cole came back with some logs and rocks. He looked at the pan holder.

"How did you make that?" Cole asked.

"I just used what I could find," I said, "Care to start the fire?"

"With pleasure." He placed the logs under the pan and surrounded the logs with rocks. He used two extra rocks to scrape together and started making some smoke. Blowing on the logs, a fire slowly started to appear. Cole stood up in appreciation. "I, Cole Brookstone, have made fire. Take that, nature!"

"I think your just tired from traveling for ten hours straight," I said, "Why don't you go and set up the tents and I'll start cooking us some mid-morning meals?"

"Sounds like a plan. I'll leave you to the cooking."

Cooking over the fire took a lot longer than it could with the oven. Saving the amount of food we had, I decided to cook four eggs and toast up two pieces of bread. While the food sizzles on the pan, I looked at Cole fumbling around with the tents just to try and put them up for us to sleep in. Once he finally got the first tent put up, I was already finished cooking.

"Are you hungry, Cole?" I asked.

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Cole said, walking over and taking a plate. I watched as he devoured his whole plate in almost two bites. I was only halfway through my plate. "Sorry you had to see that. I haven't eaten since yesterday at about breakfast time when you made those pancakes."

"Funny. I've eaten all three meals yesterday."

"That's a good thing. I want you to keep your strength. It's important. Sooner or later, I'm gonna need to start teaching you how to fight."

"Let's wait until after we get to where we're going. I don't want us to slow down or anything just to worry about training."

"Fair enough. I'm gonna go back and set up the tent."

"Cole, do you mind if I tell you something first?"

"Go right ahead. I'm listening."

I sighed. "Last night, I went out and watered my flowers that I planted around the mailbox. I wanted them to stay around for a little longer before the cold weather started attacking them. Angelina came right by my house. I wrote her a note stating that I would be moving out and finding a new home in the next village. She knew I was lying. I just got angry all of a sudden and ended up calling her a terrible, strict old hag. Was that the wrong thing to say?"

"You always told me that she's strict at times, but she's just looking out for you. You were just tired of being told what to do by her and you just snapped. I'm sure you both will meet again one day. You both might be able to settle things in a peaceful way."

I thanked Cole for helping me with that problem. He finally finished putting the second tent up and went inside of it to at least get a few hours of sleep. He would need it. I was left alone in the outside world. It kind of reminded me of the dream I had. There are moments like this where I'm alone ans I usually sing when no one's around. I just had that feeling and I usually make up songs as I go along, not bothering if it isn't good or not. I sing it because I want to.

Where it's green and where it's blue

A place where I can see you

A place where I feel wonderful inside

Somewhere I don't have to hide

You make me feel like a person again

I'd rather be with you until the end

There's nowhere else I'd rather be

Then you being here in the forest with me

Sometimes I think of you as the sun

So full of energy and so much fun

It makes me feel that your more than just a friend

Someone I can be with at the end

Now I'll tell you how I feel

My heart will be open and it won't be sealed

All the thing that I've been through

You came to let me say that I love you

From the flowers and springs and trees

I'm glad you hear that you'll be with me

There's nowhere else I'd rather be

Then you being here in the forest with me

I'm glad to say that you love me

As long as your here in the forest with me

There I go. Singing the song in my own fashion and in my own way. I sat up in the tree the rest of the time while Cole was asleep. He woke up and started up the fire again. I waved down at him to let him know that I was up here. Before that, I kept hearing strange noises in the distance. Some of the leaves on the trees began to shimmer like dangling crystals. I was thinking about coming down so I could escape from the noise. When I started smelling something that was a about to burn, I slid down the tree and ran towards the fire.

"What is going on over here?" I asked.

"Well, since you cooked dinner for us this morning, I thought I would cook the evening meal," Cole said, "I hope you like chicken strips."

"I do, but there burnt." It's true. Every single strip that was cook was either halfway or completely black. "Cole, do you know how to cook?"

"Why would you be asking a question like that? Of course I know how to cook."

"Really? Well, if you knew how to cook, then you would only leave each strip on its side for three to four minutes. Seems to me that you kept them on there much longer than that."

Cole sighed. "Alright, the truth is... I can't cook. I've done it so many times before, but now I have the feeling like I was never able to do it before. I've never had anyone to teach me how to do it."

I just laughed and showed him the proper way that things should be cooked. Always follow the recipe step by step. Never add too much of anything, including spices. It's just that easy. We ate the strips that I helped him cook while I threw the burnt one's out to feed to the passing bird. I hope they don't break their beaks because those things are hard as a rock. I went back over to the fire and sat down next to Cole. I couldn't stop thinking of the letter. I placed my hands in my hoodie pocket and felt something in it. I found the folded up letter and tried to unfold it so I could read it again, but I didn't want Cole to see it. I looked at him and saw that he had a letter in his hands, reading it silently to himself.

"Who is that letter from?" I asked.

He looked at me and I'm sure that I saw him jump a little. "It's nothing."

"It has to be something."

He looked at the letter in my hand. "Who is that letter from?"

"If I tell you who this is from, will you tell me who that is from?"

"Sure."

I sighed. "It's from my mother. I haven't spoken to her or the rest of my family in a while. Some stuff has been going on, I suppose. My brother, Wallace, has gone missing and nobody can seem to find him. My father needs a new kidney and I'm the only one that has the same blood type that he has."

"Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"I promised myself that I would never see any of them again. I can't bear to face them with the things I did. Now their saying that I only did it because I was just trying to avenge the family."

"Your family's more important than anything else." He sighed. "I don't think I should be saying anything. I'm making the same mistakes, too."

"What does your letter say?"

"My mother escaped from her imprisonment and she's finally home. My father wants me to go and finally meet her after the years, practically my life, of never seeing her. There's something else. My parents are ninjas."

"You've never known that? Why didn't they tell you?"

"I guess my dad never wanted me to ever worry about it."

"We both have family problems, but we don't want to take care of them. We just wanna escape."

"That's all we've ever wanted to do."

Somehow, I had the urge to lay my head on Cole's shoulder, so I did. I was afraid he would complain and say something about it, but he didn't do anything. He wrapped his arm around me and held me tight. I could hear the leaves of the trees again moving swiftly in the darkness, but I decided to ignore it. It was probably the wind blowing. I suddenly closed my eyes and fell asleep. This is one way to sleep peacefully at night.

IF YOUR WONDERING WHY I WRITE SONGS FOR ALL THE MISTRESSES THAT SING, I AM A BIG FAN OF MUSICALS. I'M ESPECIALLY A BIG FAN OF THE MUSICAL, WICKED. I ACTUALLY SAW IT AT BROADWAY. I'M SO NOT KIDDING. IT ALL HAPPENED ON MY FIRST NIGHT IN NEW YORK CITY. ENOUGH ABOUT THAT. I BETTER GET ON WITH THE STORY.

COLE AND CAROL TOLD EACH OTHER WHAT THEIR LETTERS SAID. I THINK THEY'RE BOTH STARTING TO REALIZE THAT FAMILY COMES FIRST BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE. CAROL ACTUALLY SNUGGLED UP NEXT TO COLE. I CAN FEEL A BIT OF A CONNECTION.

I HOPE YOU GUYS ARE LOVING THIS STORY.

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