The Lake house

PIECES OF EIGHT

The rain had stopped falling down but eight teens were still stranded under the huge tree with no where to go since they weren't sure of which route to take through the dark bushes in order for them to return back to the camp so that they could dry their wet bodies as well as take a hot bath to heat up the prevailing coldness in their bodies. Some of them were furious about their new leader who deserted them in the dark forest and left them to suffer under the cataclysmic storm with no adequate shelter to keep the heavy down pour away from their heads but they were lucky enough to survive the harsh storm unscathed despite the flashes of lightening that were seen above the dark clouds as well as below the forest trees striking off frail plants and trees which left terrible cataclysmic effect during the aftermath of the raging storm. The aftermath also brought along another lethal effect which replaced the passing storm on the atmosphere which is the deadly chilly breeze that descended upon the whole region as well as every creature that were present inside the forest that early hours of the cold morning including the octaboys who quietly lay on the foot of a mahogany tree after failing to find substantial refuge away from the angry rain. They were in a serious dilemma being faced with two critical problems that had crippled their spirits to tread on wet grasses and leave their fragile shelter back to the camp which were firstly, their wet bodies which increased the fatal effects of the cold that followed after the storm had faded away leaving the crisp atmosphere chilly enough to make them freeze to death while on the other hand, they had lost track of the right path trying to find shelter from the storm derailing away from the original western route to the campsite leaving them sheerly lost and stranded alone under a tall tree which they luckily found in time to shelter themselves before the storm broke out but wasn't substantial enough to protect them from the harsh rain.

"I told.... you.. that...we shouldn't leave the.. others with that... strange fellow but.. you wouldn't listen... to my warning..... and now he ditched....us to...suffer.. under the rain", one of them stuttered with his teeth clattering continuously and embraced a boy beside him with his pale hands in order to keep warm from the cold while his eyelids fought hard to stay open for him to stay awake. Jason had advised his buddy not to vote Fred as their leader but he was adamant and refused his advise because he wanted to return back badly in order to give up the search for the night. His buddy, Lucas had thought Fred was agitating for their sake for them to return back to the camp but he was greatly mistaken when he noticed Fred had sneaked away through the dark bushes leaving them behind to venture blindly through the huge forest under the cloak of darkness.

"I.... thought...he would... do better than.... Jake ...who.. didn't .... care about .. our plight..in the...forest and...lead...us back.. to the camp", Lucas, a fair-skinned fellow in wet yellow shirt and damp black jeans, stammered trying to keep his teeths from rattling hard as well as his body and glanced over at the other six teens sitting a on the other side of the tree root. For a while he regret his actions that had placed himself and Jason, who followed him against his own wishes, in peril of being frozen to death in forest before dawn.

"Well... yourrr speculations turneddd out wrong... I still can't believe.... that he would abandon us... before the heavy....rain started", Another familiar voice intruded into their discussion from the flank of the tree.

"WWWilliam .....we shhhhouldn't.. wwaste... our precious ennnergy...... dwelling in .......the past but we... should focus..on ...... thinking.. of a ...way ..... outta this..cold", Lucas replied trying to balance his mandibles from quaking violently.

"Yeahhh,.... right.... bbbut I can't...lllet it ... go... because I.. didn't.. come over... to... the beach... just.. to freeze to death", William replied drawing himself closer to the two boys in front of the tree leaving behind the other five teens who joined their bodies together to keep warm on the thick roots of the mahogany. He instantly strapped himself to the two boys when he got close enough to derive warmth from the duo and toss his flashlight on the wet grass beside the black root which enabled his left arm to embrace Jason on his right while Lucas clasped himself to him on the left.

"This feels.... gggreat...at last.... some hotness.. to heat..up ....my .... cccold nerves", William muttered out as he rested his damp hair on Jason's chest trying to get some warmth. They remained quiet for a while sleeping off the rekindled warmth on their body which has extended their lives for few hours before they experience another chilly cold that will slowly overcome the heat around them.

" DDDo you...know ttthe way out... of ttthis forest?", William asked finding some sheer warmth on his cold lips as he rests his back on the wet trunk of the tree which added a little warmth to his wet skin.

"No...I dddon't knoww.... but I rrrecall that...we took the... eastern route into... the forest when....we first came....in.. but....we...seem.. to... have....lost.. the..trail to go ..... back during the storm", Jason muttered puffing out cold air out of his lungs which had almost suffocate his chest with cold air.

"That's meannns...we are doomed.... bbut I don't want to... end up fffreezing to...death aaand leave behind... my freshhh sushhhi at home", William muttered out which left the others in a wild state of uncontrollable laughter that erupted immediately after he mentioned about his delicious dish which he had preserved in a refrigerator inside his apartment situated around the suburbs of the city. The laughter that resounded in the night served as a distraction for the teens to escape from the harsh feeling of the cold that chained the octaboys to the mahogany tree even the five boys behind them burst out laughing violently which kept them busy for a while until it died out allowing the feeling of the cold air to resume all over their bodies.

"I cccan't bbelieve that....aaall yyyou care aaabout is your sweeeet dish wwwhen yyyou are about to fffreeze tttto death. Don't yyyou hhave sommmeone you cccare about?", a voice among the five boys behind asked William immediately after the laughter had cease.

"I ddo but thhhey ain't llliving with me ffor ffour years now before I came tto the bbeach pparty", William replied keeping his voice down so as to enable his mouth utter his words completely.

"Then I gguess.. you're...lucky for you to.. have no one else to think about.... before.. getting frozen by.... the terrible cold", Lucas replied trying to reach out for the warmth which have suddenly escaped from him.

"BBBut we still need ttto...get .. outta here...in.. order... for us tto achieve...dreams...inn....life...sinnce wwwe.... don't want... this....tree.. to be our... deathbed", Jason said looking at the dark sky with his eyes trying to stay open in their pale sockets.

"Whhhat ddrreams, huh? DDoo you wanna be a magggician?", William asked with a dry joke which didn't seem to stir the others to unending laughter.

"Nahh, I.. wanted.. to.. be a surgggeon that...heals people", Jason replied putting his chin on Williams damp hair sinking it into his dark hair.

"Hmmm... that's deep dude.... but I think we... should sset asside...ourr aspirations and fffoccus our eenergy to get the hell outta this place!", Lucas exclaimed in rage but sank back on Jason's should once he remembered that he had no way of knowing which turn to take since the darkness still looms on the forest which obscured all the pathway to the camp and to worsen their plight, their flashlights had been severely damaged by the rain giving them no way of identifying the dark bushes using a bright torchlight.

"I guess...we have.. to wait... until... sunrise to be able find our way back to camp", Lucas said relapsing back to Jason shoulder now recalling that his flashlight had gone missing when he was trying hard to find safe refuge from the rain.

"I.. can't do that..we have to leeeave now otherwise.. wwwwe'll freeze before dawn comes", William retorted feeling agitated with Lucas' statement which made him to sprang up from the Jason' chest in surprising strength despite the harsh cold that had weaken them totally. He turned around facing the two boys who gaze at him with tired eyes trying to keep open from shutting down completely.

"EEEven though...wwwe... don't know which route.... to take to leave this....Godaammnn forest, we..need ttto get outta here!", He screamed trying to muster up courage in

the weak boys to get their tired feet up from in order for them to leave the bush before they really do freeze out in the cold night but none of them move a muscle making a lot of silence to follow immediately after he burst out in frustration. He waited for them to respond but only painful silence came out of the seven teens who lay quiet trying to keep as much energy as they needed in sustaining their bodies from the parasitic cold that seems to fed on their warm energy flowing through their veins.

He marvelled at the huge disappointment that mercilessly hit him which tore his heart to pieces and decided to venture out of bushes alone ignoring the seven teens that sat down on the tree behind as he plodded away from them giving no reasonable thought about the direction that he would have to safely tread on without much obstacles on his pathway leading him straight to the campsite but he obliviously took the eastern direction back to where they were coming from, unknowningly trampling on reeds and soft grass trying to figure a way out of the forest. He hadn't gone far into the dark bushes when he started hearing approaching footsteps combine with clattering of branches breaking under heavy feets trampling on frail grass on the wet forest floor and hid himself behind a tree trying to conceal his wet body from being seen by the approaching crowd. He waited with his white eyes peering at the approaching crowd led by Jake who was rotating his large flashlight to every corners of the forest in order to find the right pathway to convey his group back to camp and decided to make himself visible by strolling out of his hiding place to enable the bright light to catch his shape in the shadows.

The bright light emitted from Jake's flashlight soon fell on his face illuminating his fawn skin That glittered on the bright light enabling Jake to figure out his pale face that had mild cracks on his cheeks especially his cold lips and was immediately followed by a familiar voice he knew too well to be none other than their former leader Jake who had returned back to their direction heading back to the camp.

"William! Is that you? Where are the others? And why aren't you in the camp already?", Jake inquired plodding slowly towards him in order for him not to leave the flock of eleven teens walking behind him except for Mark who was carried along on the back of a tall boy name Raph while William tried to screamed out but his crisp throat prevented him from uttering any words in reply.

"What are still doing out here in the cold? Where's Fred?", Jake asked again after failing to receive a reply and also trying to find out what's he doing here when he as well as the other seven should be already warming themselves up in camp by now instead of exposing their bodies to the harsh wind. William didn't respond again but stood there waiting to fall into the arms of Jake whom got to where he was and fell into the arms of Jake but he was toss back to his feet again by Sean who held him by the shoulder trying to steady his balance on the wet ground. Jake observed his pale looks with his flashlight trying to figure out what happened to him that he looked so wretched and unkempt from his feet to his moist hair which he touched with his right fingers as well as his grey shirt and brown pants which turned out to be completely wet with some dirt from the tree stem painting his back.

"Did Fred led you guys to the camp?", Jake asked the final time having a queer feeling that they must have failed to reach the camp before the storm broke out but the strange thing was that he found only one of them heading back in the wrong direction after the rain had stopped which got him perplexed.

"He...left us behind... before the rain started to fall", William meekly replied resting the whole weight of his tired body on Raphael who held him on his feet.

"What! How could he? Didn't he say why he abandoned you all?", Jake asked in utter surprise feeling infuriated by Fred's wicked actions of leaving out poor teens to get lost in the woods stranded with no one to lead them in the right direction.

"No...he didn't say anything about leaving either..he just snuck out from our midst into the dark bushes..", William replied trying to hold on Raphael in order not to fall down on the damp soil.

"We'll have to do deal with Fred later in the camp later, where are the other seven?", Jake interrogated nursing his anger which he would used to face Fred if he set his angry eyes on him.

"I.. left them...under a huge tree since..we couldn't.. find good shelter.. from the storm", William replied with frail energy that has wasted off the moment he decided to walk under the cold air which had drained his strength out of him. The others behind had stopped moving forward and had encircled them listening spellbound by their conversation.

"Okay, let's head over to where they are right now and from there, we all return back to the camp", Jake said resuming his shepherd leadership of tired sheeps walking behind him and followed the directives of Williams who led them to the mahogany tree which housed the seven sleeping boys resting their cold backs on its trunk while sitting down on its wet roots. The others arrived last at the spot and were very sad mixed with burning anger for Fred when they set their eyes on the frozen boys but thankfully, they were still barely alive with some little amount of sheer strength remaining to keep them awake in their veins.

"I need volunteers to get their dry clothes off in order to cover them with after we have removed the wet ones out of them so that the cold wouldn't be that severe on their fragile bodies", Jake suggested lifting Lucas and Jason back on their feet with the help of Julius while some of those from Jake's quickly handed over their dry clothes to him leaving their bodies exposed to the cold which didn't affect them and he gave it to each of the cold teens who had pulled off their wet clothes except their pants as well in order to clad themselves in dry shirt given to them by Jake. Amongst the volunteers including their leader was Jake, Murray who led the boys ahead of Jake before he caught up with them, Thompson, Jonas, Tom, Julius and Sean who first volunteered to remove his clothes except his blue shorts making it eight volunteers in total who decided to pull off their warm clothes in order to put it on the others who were grateful for their assistance and followed the rest of the boys to continue their cold march to the camp through the dark bushes. As they got close to the camp, another group of eight boys led by Julian plodded slowly on the beach heading to where the party was held just as the early c**k was about to crow it's usual morning shriek which indicates that dawn was fast approaching on their doorstep and turned around facing the old path which they had took to get supplies for their team. Trudging forward underneath the tall trees that bordered the campsite, the group began hearing approaching footsteps from the northeastern area of the camp treading violently on the damp soil and was headed towards their direction.

"JJulian ... what's going on?", Ryan asked feeling afraid of the heavy throbs of approaching feet that tends to shake the surrounding grass.

"Maybe...wwwe should hhurry before they...get to..us", Julian said and trot forward in great strength despite the cold with the others following behind him and reached a clear path before the camp but was prevented from going further by eleven flashlights that gleam through the pale darkness illuminating Julian and his crew who stood without moving forward shielding off the lights from their eyes, in great trepidation of whoever is approaching before from the woods. The night which had prevailed in the pale sky was about to give birth to a new dawn in order for it to take over from where it will stopped reigning over the forest that would soon become visible to naked eyes especially the night creepers who would transformed into squirrels and chipmunks that climbs up the frail trees on the forest except for flying bats as well as fruit bats that won't be seen in the dark bushes but will evade the imminent light by looking for hidden spot to shield themselves from the burning sunlight especially in the dark caverns where Kelly had gotten himself trapped and is currently looking for an exit out of the cave using the flashlight that Jake handed over to him, which was yet to be seen before the flock of bats will make their way into the cave trying to avoid the approaching dawn that will soon engulf the earth into a different form from the previous day, renewing it with its fresh light emitted by the sun.