Chapter I
Oops, Where Are We Now?
Was she falling? Was she anything? Demi couldn't tell, there was only emptiness. Her feet didn't touch the ground, but there was no wind rushing by her as if she were plummeting. She wasn't even completely sure if she was still awake. There was a part of her that thought maybe she was sleeping, that this was just a strange dream. But she couldn't exactly prove that. After a short mental dispute she figured that there was nothing to prove that is was real, so Demi stuck onto the hallucination theory like it was a life ring. It was comforting that the ability to wake up was present.
She suddenly felt cold. No, wait. She was wet, wet and cold. And she could see! She could feel as well! She caught her breath in relief, only to swallow a lung full of water. There was water rushing by her. She didn't remember any rivers in the park, or anywhere near it for that matter. Panicking she floundered trying to get above the turmoil of water. Coughing she ran into a rock, feet first. It was large enough that Demi could hold onto it with numbing fingers. After awhile Demi closed her eyes and tried to fight down her fear.
*When she was little, about 8, her mother took her to the ocean and Demi remembered how beautiful she thought it was. She had never seen the ocean before. It was peaceful and soothing, white clouds melding with blue ocean on the horizon. Her mother had held her hand and led her into the soft waves, which tickled her feet. They went farther and farther out, until the seawater was up to Demi's waist. It was cold, but eight year olds don't necessarily pay attention to the cold. Her mother didn't seem to notice, she didn't even look down to see how Demi was. She laughed and dove beneath the waves still holding her daughter's hand. Demi chocked on the salty water and tried to get away. But her mother's grip was too tight. Dimly she thought she could make out someone's voice above the water as she loss consciousness. A man in his fishing boat saw them go under, and when they remained submerged he dove in after them. Her mother died that day, even if Demi didn't. She could never understand why her mother did it, why she went into the deep, never to return to the surface. The loss still hurt and Demi had been afraid of the water ever since. It was another thing she could never understand. How could something so lovely be so horrible?*
She felt herself loose control to the icy currents. Soon she couldn't hold on any longer and let go, falling into darkness again.
* * *
It was with these thoughts that Demi woke, without opening her eyes. When she did open them she saw Connor and Loren were leaning over her with worried faces. She coughed once or twice and took a crack at sitting up, but Loren pushed her down.
"Take it easy," she said firmly, "You just swallowed a lot of water."
"So I didn't die?" Demi croaked. Connor shook his head in a negative. Demi laughed, "Well that's good to hear," she stated as another comment popped into her head.
"Out of curiosity, where are we?" Loren shrugged.
"Like I know? One minute we were in the park and the next we're next to some river, in some forest only god knows where." Connor scratched his head, puzzling over something.
"The thing is, here we three are, all together and generally okay, but I have no idea where the other two went." This time Demi sat up, and pushed away Loren's supporting hand.
"Look," she pointed out, "I came from up river right?" She glanced opposite the river's flow, "So it's entirely possible that Alyssa and Ryan are back that way." Loren and Connor shared a glance. Alyssa + Ryan = trouble in their minds.
'That could be a caution label on one my professors lab units,' Demi thought in amusement, 'Warning, do not mix ingredients Alyssa and Ryan. Chaos may ensue.' She chuckled.
Connor stood up, glancing around. Loren peered hopefully at Demi.
"Can you stand?" She asked, "It would be a good idea to start searching for them before it gets dark." 'Well duh,' thought Demi, but she didn't say anything and slowly climbed to her feet.
"Well then, we should get going," She finally replied.
So they headed off upstream, a straggly line of college students, two holding hands and a third soaking wet walking behind, rolling her eyes at her companions. It took them some time to work they way up the rivers edge in squeaky tennies, and Demi frequently complained to no one in particular how very tired and hungry and miserable she was. They did take the time to admire the trees though, which had pretty white trunks and lovely fresh, healthy looking leaves.
Demi thought that there wasn't a whole lot to look at on the ground; it was basically dirt with shrubbery here and there, so she didn't see the pattern of rocks that she stepped on. Luckily the sound of her foot crunching on something got her attention and she momentarily looked down.
"Hey," she commented in surprise, "Take a look at this." Connor raised an eyebrow, "I don't know if I want to look. It seems to me like the last time we looked at something of yours," He waved a hand, "this happened."
"Har, har," she said sarcastically and kicked him in lightly the shin. He laughed and inspected the rock formation with Loren. They all puzzled over it for a long string of minutes until Loren backed up and said with bewilderment, "I think that's my name." Then of course they all finally realized it was writing, partially obscured by Demi's footprint.
"They left a message!"
"It says: wait here, we met friends, be back in a jiffy…" Connor cocked his head, "And that's all I can read." Demi sighed, "that's all any of us can read." She saw Loren sit down on a fallen tree.
"We might was well wait then."
So they waited.. And waited. They waited until the sun had set and it was really beginning to look dark. They waited until they thought waiting any longer would be a stupid idea. After that it wasn't long until Demi threw up her hands and said, "Well this is completely pointless! So much for 'be back in a jiffy!'" But Loren raised a polite hand of her own.
"We might as well just crash here tonight, its night time, and too dark to see. We'll just get lost." Connor nodded in agreement. Making an exasperated sound Demi gave up and laid down on the uncomfortable ground. There were goose bumps creeping up her arms as she shifted, trying to find a preferable sleeping position.
"The weather sure hasn't changed much," was the last comment made before one by one they drifted off to sleep.
Oops, Where Are We Now?
Was she falling? Was she anything? Demi couldn't tell, there was only emptiness. Her feet didn't touch the ground, but there was no wind rushing by her as if she were plummeting. She wasn't even completely sure if she was still awake. There was a part of her that thought maybe she was sleeping, that this was just a strange dream. But she couldn't exactly prove that. After a short mental dispute she figured that there was nothing to prove that is was real, so Demi stuck onto the hallucination theory like it was a life ring. It was comforting that the ability to wake up was present.
She suddenly felt cold. No, wait. She was wet, wet and cold. And she could see! She could feel as well! She caught her breath in relief, only to swallow a lung full of water. There was water rushing by her. She didn't remember any rivers in the park, or anywhere near it for that matter. Panicking she floundered trying to get above the turmoil of water. Coughing she ran into a rock, feet first. It was large enough that Demi could hold onto it with numbing fingers. After awhile Demi closed her eyes and tried to fight down her fear.
*When she was little, about 8, her mother took her to the ocean and Demi remembered how beautiful she thought it was. She had never seen the ocean before. It was peaceful and soothing, white clouds melding with blue ocean on the horizon. Her mother had held her hand and led her into the soft waves, which tickled her feet. They went farther and farther out, until the seawater was up to Demi's waist. It was cold, but eight year olds don't necessarily pay attention to the cold. Her mother didn't seem to notice, she didn't even look down to see how Demi was. She laughed and dove beneath the waves still holding her daughter's hand. Demi chocked on the salty water and tried to get away. But her mother's grip was too tight. Dimly she thought she could make out someone's voice above the water as she loss consciousness. A man in his fishing boat saw them go under, and when they remained submerged he dove in after them. Her mother died that day, even if Demi didn't. She could never understand why her mother did it, why she went into the deep, never to return to the surface. The loss still hurt and Demi had been afraid of the water ever since. It was another thing she could never understand. How could something so lovely be so horrible?*
She felt herself loose control to the icy currents. Soon she couldn't hold on any longer and let go, falling into darkness again.
* * *
It was with these thoughts that Demi woke, without opening her eyes. When she did open them she saw Connor and Loren were leaning over her with worried faces. She coughed once or twice and took a crack at sitting up, but Loren pushed her down.
"Take it easy," she said firmly, "You just swallowed a lot of water."
"So I didn't die?" Demi croaked. Connor shook his head in a negative. Demi laughed, "Well that's good to hear," she stated as another comment popped into her head.
"Out of curiosity, where are we?" Loren shrugged.
"Like I know? One minute we were in the park and the next we're next to some river, in some forest only god knows where." Connor scratched his head, puzzling over something.
"The thing is, here we three are, all together and generally okay, but I have no idea where the other two went." This time Demi sat up, and pushed away Loren's supporting hand.
"Look," she pointed out, "I came from up river right?" She glanced opposite the river's flow, "So it's entirely possible that Alyssa and Ryan are back that way." Loren and Connor shared a glance. Alyssa + Ryan = trouble in their minds.
'That could be a caution label on one my professors lab units,' Demi thought in amusement, 'Warning, do not mix ingredients Alyssa and Ryan. Chaos may ensue.' She chuckled.
Connor stood up, glancing around. Loren peered hopefully at Demi.
"Can you stand?" She asked, "It would be a good idea to start searching for them before it gets dark." 'Well duh,' thought Demi, but she didn't say anything and slowly climbed to her feet.
"Well then, we should get going," She finally replied.
So they headed off upstream, a straggly line of college students, two holding hands and a third soaking wet walking behind, rolling her eyes at her companions. It took them some time to work they way up the rivers edge in squeaky tennies, and Demi frequently complained to no one in particular how very tired and hungry and miserable she was. They did take the time to admire the trees though, which had pretty white trunks and lovely fresh, healthy looking leaves.
Demi thought that there wasn't a whole lot to look at on the ground; it was basically dirt with shrubbery here and there, so she didn't see the pattern of rocks that she stepped on. Luckily the sound of her foot crunching on something got her attention and she momentarily looked down.
"Hey," she commented in surprise, "Take a look at this." Connor raised an eyebrow, "I don't know if I want to look. It seems to me like the last time we looked at something of yours," He waved a hand, "this happened."
"Har, har," she said sarcastically and kicked him in lightly the shin. He laughed and inspected the rock formation with Loren. They all puzzled over it for a long string of minutes until Loren backed up and said with bewilderment, "I think that's my name." Then of course they all finally realized it was writing, partially obscured by Demi's footprint.
"They left a message!"
"It says: wait here, we met friends, be back in a jiffy…" Connor cocked his head, "And that's all I can read." Demi sighed, "that's all any of us can read." She saw Loren sit down on a fallen tree.
"We might was well wait then."
So they waited.. And waited. They waited until the sun had set and it was really beginning to look dark. They waited until they thought waiting any longer would be a stupid idea. After that it wasn't long until Demi threw up her hands and said, "Well this is completely pointless! So much for 'be back in a jiffy!'" But Loren raised a polite hand of her own.
"We might as well just crash here tonight, its night time, and too dark to see. We'll just get lost." Connor nodded in agreement. Making an exasperated sound Demi gave up and laid down on the uncomfortable ground. There were goose bumps creeping up her arms as she shifted, trying to find a preferable sleeping position.
"The weather sure hasn't changed much," was the last comment made before one by one they drifted off to sleep.