Destiny (1)

I lay, cocooned, quaking against a soft material. I could feel the heavy rise and fall of my chest, so I knew I was alive. I allowed myself ten seconds to breathe. Then I forced myself to get up.

My eyes flicked open, and were welcomed with green. I silently thank my Destin for keeping me intact. Stretching my arms, I escaped the warm blanket of my huge leaf. It had acted as a parachute when I landed. I stared around.

Apart from three other balls of green, nothing was out of place in this field. I scrambled up and over to Ash. He was the biggest ball out of all of them.

I pulled the roll open. Ash was laying there, his eyes open. At first I thought he was dead. But then he blinked.

“Get up,” I groaned at him.

“I was comfy in there. I tried not to move. You interrupted me!”

“Zip it. I thought you were dead!”

“Wait, were you worried?” He teased.

“No.” I lied, feeling my face heat up. “Help me wake the others.”

So there we were, gently waking up Thalia and Samuel, faintly wondering what to do next.

“What do we do with Samuel?” Ash hissed at me.

“I dunno.”

“Sam, do you know where we are?” Thalia said.

“Wha- grandad’s field!” He cried.

“Excuse me?” Ash said.

“We we’re going to grandad’s farm for the week. We must have landed here. The stop’s just a few minutes that way.” He pointed a stubby finger in the direction of the railway track.

I thought pinged in my mind. A shred of luck.

“And, is that the last stop?”

“Yep.”

I turned to Ash. “The driver will check that there’s no one left on the train. Sasha will have to conceal her form, and the Samuel’s father will be saved. Simples.”

“What if he goes blabbing about us?”

“He’ll think it’s a dream. Sam’s just a child. Its not like anyone will believe him.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Sam, can you go to your grandad?”

“Okay.”

“And you can stay there. To get away from the scariness.”

He thought for a second. “It was quite scary. Bye bye, Thalia.”

Thalia hugged him. “Bye bye.”

We awkwardly pretended not to see a tear in her eye at the affection, and watched as Sam scurried away across the field. We stayed quiet for a moment, staring at his tiny figure as it disappeared from view.

Then there was silence.

After a minute or two, Ash spoke up.

“So, do we just continue on foot from here?”

I thought for a second.

“No. It’s about a hundred miles from here. We were only in the train for three hours.”

My stomach rumbled noisily. I was starting to wish I had bought a baguette before the journey. The reality of those three hours lost was beginning to take its toll.

“Can we find a place to eat?” I groaned, after a silence. Ash pulled out his phone.

“Aargh, no signal. Fay, do you have any?”

“Uh, yeah. Here you go…”

“Thanks.” He took the device from my hands and typed in a few characters. “The nearest pub is a mile from here. Wanna check it out?”

Thalia was obviously as hungry as I was, because she eagerly nodded her head. I shrugged.

“Anywhere with food is fine by me!”

The soft creaking of my chair emanated loudly, vibrating through my body. I sipped a large mug of hot chocolate, and licked the froth from my upper lip. The bubbly texture melted in my welcoming mouth. My stomach rumbled again. I sighed.

“When’s the food coming?” I whined.

“I agree,” grumbled Ash. “I’m hungry,”

“You’re hungry? I’m starving!” Moaned Thalia. “We ordered an hour ago!”

“Tal-” I began.

“We ordered four minutes ago,” interrupted Ash, glancing at his watch. I looked at him.

“What?” He said.

“Not everything has to be exact…”

“I wasn’t that exact. If you want me to be exact, then we ordered four minutes and twenty-three seconds ago… oh.”

It turned out Ash didn’t have a very good understanding of sarcasm when hungry.

Thalia tapped her crayon against the kid’s menu colouring sheet impatiently.

A waitress walked past with a double cheeseburger on a plate. I didn't think much of it, having lived with a vegetarian foster mother for the last part of my life, but cash and Thalia looked on longingly at it.

“That looks sooooo good,” pined Thalia wishfully.

“I know,” nodded Ash.

“Really?” I said, unimpressed by the burger. “Meat isn’t that good, you know. I’ve lived multiple years without it. Fresh salads… now they’re something to wish for,” I leant back and crossed my legs and arms.

An uneasy silence passed, and my head began to droop. After a long streak of hunger, my energy was wavering. Ash looked the same, but Thalia still seemed wide awake. My eyelids fluttered, and she nudged me.

“Don’t fall asleep, Fay!”

I stretched my back and blinked twice. I shouldn’t be feeling like this. I had a task to complete. An old man tottered towards us, carrying three trays of food.

“Here are your meals.” he croaked. “Call me back over when you need the bill.” He smiled a single-toothed smile at Ash. He smiled uncertainly at him back, before pulling his curry towards him and tucking in.

The man left, and I was left with a ravenous little girl gobbling up her food as quickly as possible. I warily picked up a fork and sleepily began to eat. I leant my chin on my hand and desperately attempted not to fall asleep. I glanced over at Ash, and as our eyes met I realised that he was doing the same thing. A mutual understanding passed between us. Something wasn’t right.

And that was the last thing I knew before I peacefully blacked out.