"Take it, Raina. The Medicine is good for you and you very well know it."
'Great,' I thought. 'Juniper brings me in here right after having some conversation that seemed to put
everyone on edge and now I'm back in here, oblivious to what's going on. To top it all off, I have to take more
of this bloody slime drink again!' I was not happy about it as I choked it down and I was even more stubborn
than the previous times, if that was indeed at all possible.
"Juniper, I….," I begin, wondering how I was going to ask what was going on. After all, I'm not supposed to
know and also, I'm just some silly rich girl that lives in a lonely old mansion with mere books and dust balls as
my friends. Of course, there is Beth, but I didn't want to think about her right now….
So I began again,
Asking a question that any girl like me would be expected to ask, considering my situation. "When am I going
home?"
At this, Junipers' eyebrow rose in worry, and I knew. She didn't speak for a few moments, almost letting me
prepare for the answer. As obvious as it was, it didn't hit me until just then. In a saddened breathe, I whispered,
"I'm…not."
It was not a question. It was a reality, and it was hard to take in. I attempted to swallow but there was a lump in
my throat. I just stood there, numb and motionless. Everything just seemed to slow down. It almost seemed as if time itself was at ease.
"So…," I began again, "what am I supposed to do?" I ask. How was I supposed to survive? What about my school and my mother? What would she do if I never came back? How would she survive mourning for father alone? How would I survive that alone?
I don't know. I don't know at all.
Juniper seemed tense again, like when I saw her outside. She seemed just as sad as I was for a moment but then said, We're leaving tomorrow, making our way out as times are hard in the cold. I'm afraid you'll have to stay with us."
Stay with them? Stay here when home might be so near? This made me angry. I didn't want to leave and I certainly didn't want to stay here in the woods. I'm was so close to reaching home. Why didn't I just leave then? Why Raina? Why?
Juniper came over to me, and placed her palm on my hand. She looked at me directly and it seemed like she was about to say something. It was like she needed to tell me something. She sighed. "Alas, my dear." She said with great sorrow and regret. "It's the way it has to be." Then she got up and walked out, letting me take in what everything was to be like now. How was I going to do this? How would I ever get through this and how would I ever be accepted at all?
I looked around the tent and then the voice, deep and powerful like the night before filled the tent.
"Raina, isn't this, what you always wanted? You'll get your adventure after all. You'll get your escape."