The Survival

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

I’m seated cross legged on the ground, with my back to a tree while I observe my hands and fingers. The hand that we found from the unknown person still scares the s**t out of me and seems like that feeling is not going to disappear anytime soon.

I gaze carefully at my hand, it’s very pale, but nothing compared to the mysterious hand, the other one was much paler, and it was purple.

My tiny fingers are moving, something that had not happened with the other.

My nails are purple, which reminds me, again, of the hand.

Every time that I look at mine or other hands, I remember that awful day and that horrible act.

Who in their right state of mind would do that? Who would cut someone’s hand? I guess that no one would rip their own hand, so you made it, and why?

I grab a small twig that was standing not too far from me and start drawing on the floor. I push the leaves aside with my hand and use the twig as a pencil. I draw whatever comes up on my mind.

A curve here, and a curve there. A line here and a circle up there, in minutes I have a work of art in front of me.

Okay, maybe not as great as one of Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings, more like Picasso’s, since at first sight you don’t understand what I drew.

On the dirty floor is drawn a middle size house, with an apple tree by its side, and the sun is shining brightly. Behind the lovely house you can see fields and mountains, yet what capture your attention first is the family with smiley faces and holding hands.

The taller is my dad, next to him is my mom and then there are James and me.

This simple drawing is a precious gem to me. Because this wasn’t the first time I did this. When I was a young naive girl, in a class, my teacher asked us to draw what we cherished more in life. I drew exactly this.

In the 5th grade they asked us to draw a happy memory. I drew this, even though it wasn’t true, so it wasn’t a memory, yet I wanted it to be one, and I had faith that it would happen.

Eventually 11th grade came, and Mrs. Poppin told us to draw or write what we wanted our future to be like, or what we wanted to be, like our profession. Anything, it only needed to be related to the future. I once again presented this lovely paint. Everyone thought that it was an older me, my husband and kids, yet it was a past wish that I wanted to become reality in the near future.

It never did.

Looking down at it I realize that I will never receive the love that I always wanted my parents to give me. They will never look at me like I’m their little princess even though I’m now 19 years old. They will never feel proud of me, because they never truly cared about me and James.

When I had nightmares, it wasn’t my mom or dad who would wake me up and assure me that it was just a dream, it was James. He was the one who would be lying next to me until I fall asleep in his comfy arms.

I always had hope that everything would turn out to be fine, but when they told us that they were going to divorce, I knew that any glimmer of hope that I had was lost.

Last time I saw them was when they left the house with their belongings. My dad got in his car and my mom in hers, and just like that, they were gone from our lives. James was 19 at that time, so he took me in.

This happened two years ago, I never saw my parents again, they sometimes call when it’s Christmas or Easter, but that’s it. They don’t even remember my birthday.

Passing my thumb over my brother’s draw I make a silent wish.

Please, James. Find me and take me out of these woods. I need your hug, and your kisses, even your stupid jokes. I want to hear your voice at least one last time and tell how much I love you.

Looking at the stars above me I plead them to make it happen. I never believed in blowing the candles and make a wish or throw a coin to a fountain and the wish would become true. But now, I pray to the stars, to those beautiful points of light living in the sky to send this message to my brother.

From the corner of my eye I see a figure coming my way. Nathan sits by my side and places a blanket on my knees.

“Weren’t you searching for firewood?” I question him while c*****g my eyebrow.

“Already found it.” He points to something ahead of us and I see it, a small bonfire.

The sound of the wood breaking because of the lavishing fire is a calming background noise. The bonfire isn’t really far away from me, but I was so focused on my thoughts that I haven’t noticed it.

“Oh.” I say. I open the blanket and place it over mine and Nathan’s body, I look up at him, and he is inspecting something on the floor.

“What’s that?” I don’t need to follow his line of vision to know what he is talking about.

“Nothing.” With my black boot I ruin the draw. Concern is written across Nathan’s face and so I try to calm him down. “One day I’ll tell you. I promise.”

He wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to his body. “Ed is going mad.”

“You only realize that now? He was never good in the head, now he’s only getting worse.” I laugh and just in time, I see a crazy Ed grabbing a water bottle like his life depended on it, “He looks like that creature from the Hobbit.”

“The Gollum?”

“Yeah,” I grab a twig and mimic Ed’s actions, “My precious, my precious.”

“Don’t be mean Kate. These days have been rough for him. Lucy isn’t talking with him and the fact that we are still stuck in here is driving him mad.”

“He isn’t the only one that wants to leave Nathan.”

“I know,” His green eyes look into mine, “I already lost count of how long we are here.”

“2 weeks and 3 days.” I say instantly.

“That long?” His eyes double their size because of my shocking information. I nod my head, answering his question. Since the hand incident we have been walking without stopping, only taking a break to eat and sleep.

Unfortunately for us, luck isn’t by our side, we are still here, and we are lacking food and let’s not talk about the last time I had a bath, it was probably a week ago.

It must be the last week of November and we can feel the air getting chilly, and every night snowflakes decide to make us company, we haven’t found a covert like the other one, or any place to hide to be exact.

The last place we bathed on was a waterfall, it was almost all frozen, but we managed to find a spot with freezing running water.

We have tried to climb up the trees to maybe give us a clue to where we are or where we are supposed to go, but most of the trees are pines, which puts the branches out of our reach and the other trees have tin branches, almost like twigs, impossible for us to climb.

“Stop zoning out.” I hear Nathan say by my side.

“I will, if you stop apologizing for everything.” I fire back.

“Sometimes I need to apologize.”

“And I to think.”

“You are such a stubborn girl, Katherine Rose Blair.” I feel him grab my hand under the blanket.

“So are you, Nathan Jay Turner.”

This past week, I and Nathan created an incredible bond, if we were inseparable before, then now we are always glued to one another every second of the day. We are always talking, making jokes, teasing each other and touching.

We can’t stop touching, not in a dirty way, it’s like a bump on the shoulder, a caress on the cheek or walking with our pinky fingers intertwined. No kissing.

We haven’t discussed the almost kiss incident, it’s like the both of us want to talk about it, but at the end we never do.

“Your hand is so cold Kate.”

“Isn’t it always?” A laugh escapes me, and I rest my head on his chest. He kisses my head and wraps his other arm around my torso, “Nathan?”

“Yes...?”

“Are you sniffing my hair?” Is that boy even real?

“What? No...”

I punch his chest, not making any damage but whatever, “Don’t lie to me.”

“Okay.” He whispers closer to my ear.

“You’re a weird boy Nathan.”

“And you’re a gorgeous girl, Kate.”

A large smile forms on my lips, one that’s only for him.