After grabbing it, I slumped down in front of the boulder, and removed a piece of flat bread and my canteen of water. My stomach howled, churned, and gurgled. Yeah, I was pretty hungry. I was surprised that I didn’t notice my hunger pains until now. Then again, I had a lot on my mind at the time.
Picking the bread apart into pieces, I nibbled on few of the pieces, still feeling distracted. I wondered where Colin went and when or if he would come back here looking for me.
Focusing on two rocks in front of me, I chewed the bread mechanically, not able to enjoy it when I was hit with an epiphany.“Georgina, you idiot,” I said as I swallowed.
Colin and I were supposed to be out here looking for supplies. Two hours, maybe three, had already passed and the council said that we only had four hours to look for the items on our list. Because of everything that had gone down earlier, I completely forgot about our mission—the reason that Colin and I were elected to come up here in the first place.
Reaching into the front pocket of my knapsack, I removed my list, scanned it quickly, and peered up at the mountain of rocks in front of me. “Well,” I said aloud. “Might as well try to find at least one thing on my list while I’m waiting.”
As I climbed to the top of the mountain, the worn out soles on my tennis shoes made me slip when they brushed against some of the flat, smooth rocks. I stumbled, almost falling down.
“Wwhhoa,” my voice shook as I steadied my flailing arms. I caught my balance when I clutched on to a massive, triangular piece of debris rock. The layered edging and worn out banner across the front of it reminded me of the top of the building at the old city hall.
The City Hall was one of my favorite buildings to look at. It had such an ornate and antique feel to it. I used to marvel at the stone gargoyles on the top and fantasized what it would be like to see them soaring through the endless periwinkle sky. My lips curled up into a smile. Ah, memories.
When I finally reached the top of rock mountain, I was proud that I had climbed all the way to the top. I wasn’t even winded. And I felt like I had climbed at least a dozen mountains in my life. Which was a lie. I’d never climbed anything. I didn’t even like the jungle gym on the playground.
It wasn’t until I saw my bleak surroundings that the proud feeling inside of me vanished. Instead, depression set in. I was so sick and tired of the thick mass of gray all along the skyline. I was tired of not being able to see the beautiful, glowing sun, and scowled at the sight of the roads that were covered with a mixture of ashes and dirt.
; I wanted to see houses, buildings, roads, cars, and most of all, I wanted to see the earth alive again. I wanted to see the endless green stretching on for miles. Flowers in an assortment of colors blossoming. Cows out in the pastures chewing on the grass.
Then I thought about my home. I couldn’t spot where it used to be. But as I closed my eyes, it came back to me, like a dream. There used to an open field behind our house. Frankie and I played many games of tag in that field. We frolicked, picked dandelion bouquets, had picnics, and even stayed out late at night in the summer to catch lightening bugs.
Every Sunday morning, during the summer, my father would hop on his riding mower and mow the grass. That was one of my favorite scents—freshly-cut grass. After he’d finished the lawn, I’d walk out the sliding glass door and inhale deeply. I’d never again be able to experience that. But I should have been happy that I had any fond memories of what earth used to be like at all.
A few women in the colony had given birth since it had been established and I felt sorry for those new infants. For the rest of their lives, they would only be able to picture what the earth was like from stories that would be passed down to them. They’d never truly be able to experience the real beauty of it for themselves.
I snapped out of my trance, and my attention averted to my feet as a rock underneath my left foot began to wobble. “Time to start digging,” I groaned. Then I picked up the first rock and tossed it aside.
* * * *
Minutes passed. Then an hour. I was a least threefeet down in the hole of rocks that I dug out and still hadn’t found one item on my list. What were the council members thinking, only giving us four hours? At the rate I was going, it was going to take me days. Maybe Colin was having better luck, wherever he was. He still hadn’t returned.
Grunting, I picked up a medium-sized rock. I chucked over the side of the hole. “I better find something soon,” I mumbled to myself. Every time I picked up a rock I was digging a deeper and deeper hole for myself. And I didn’t know how I would get out of it when it was time for me to go back.
Speaking of the time, it had to be dwindling down. I peeked up out of my hole and looked at my knapsack. Mr. Baker said that we only had four hours and I knew that a couple hours had passed before I started. Mr. Baker also said that one of our knapsacks contained a watch, so we’d know when to come back. The only problem was he didn’t say which knapsack contained the watch.
Colin didn’t mention anything about the watch so it had to be in mine, somewhere. I had gone through it earlier but only briefly. I didn’t examine everything that was inside of it. Or maybe Colin did have the watch and never got the chance to tell me because I stormed off.
Either way, I knew I was cutting it close time-wise. So, I made a mental note that I would only move a couple more rocks and if I didn’t find anything, I’d chalk it up as a loss and move on.
What could the council say? If we didn’t find anything, we didn’t find anything. The outside world was vast and confusing for teenagers who hadn’t seen it in so long.
Picking up another rock, I followed the same routine, tossing over the side of the hole. Then my eyes centered on something black that was peeking through some smaller rocks.
Delighted, I got down on my knees and brushed the various pebbles away. I yanked on the black item, which had the same texture as an inner tube, and fell backwards as I freed it.
My back slammed into something sharp. and warm liquid oozed down my spine. I was bleeding. Truthfully, it seemed like every inch of my body was bleeding. My hands were cut pretty bad from handling some of the sharper rocks. Flaps of my skin dangled at my palms. I had gashes across my shins from the climb up, and not to mention the cut I got on my ankle when Colin saved me from my potential squashing. Now I could add my back to the tally. And I didn’t even care, because I was distracted by something else entirely. I had finally found one item on my list. “A tarp!” I exclaimed.
That was it. That was all I wanted. One item and I was happy. It wouldn’t have bothered me that much if I went back without any, but a twinge of failure would still be gnawing at me. What if Colin finally found me and he had every item on his list?A horrified expression formed on my face when I thought of Mr. Baker. “Did you find anything?” he’d ask. Of course Colin would dump out his knapsack and beam proudly as he displayed every item on his list. Then Mr. Baker would turn to me. “And what about you, Georgina?” That would never happen but, I still felt the embarrassment of the fake scenario—my cheeks red and tingly—like they were burning. Thank God I found that tarp.
After balling up the tarp, I climbed out of the hole and began my journey down the rock mountain, scraping my shins at least a dozen more times. When my mother saw me she was going to freak out. She used to hyperventilate when I bumped my head as a kid. And now I looked like some mad man’s special experiment.
Once I reached the bottom, I made a beeline for my knapsack. Determined to find the watch, I fished through every pocket and examined the interior thoroughly. Damn it. There was no watch in my bag. And that meant that Colin had it.
Cupping my hands to my mouth, I shouted, “Colin!” I heard nothing in response, only the sound of my voice echoing. “Colin!” When I was worried about someone or something, nine times out of ten, I would let that feeling completely consume me and feed off me until I found a resolution for it.