Chapter 17
Day 254
I woke up before sunrise in yet another camp site. I sat and watched as the sun started to come over the horizon sending orange lights across the purple sky and making it look pink, yellow, and orange in bright beams. It was so beautiful and I couldn’t wish I’d slept through it, no matter how tired and stressed I was.
We’d left the day before around noon and I couldn’t help but compare the two trips. Both were stressful and both were our attempts to do the right thing. That’s where the similarities ended. Last time we’d been completely broke with nothing except what we’d bought on the way with stolen money. We were afraid and we didn’t know where we were going or what we were gonna do next. This time was different. We were walking and bussing, because we had too many stories to deal with a train ride and the chance of seeing the same people from before. We had the stuff from before, but we also had money that was our own. We weren’t starving kids, but instead we were adults with a new understanding of the world. We weren’t afraid. That would be the wrong word. We were filled with a set determination. We knew where we were going and exactly the problems we were facing.
I was again so thankful for the national park service and anyone else who ran campsites. We could have afforded cheap motels, but we could handle this. After a while I headed to a pharmacy and bought hair strip. It was time we started looking like ourselves again. After we ate sandwiches for breakfast I set to fixing up everyone’s hair.
I took Kelly first. I smiled seeing her with dark hair again. Her hair had started to look a little more like a toddler and less like a baby. She was also starting to make the transition physically as well. She had grown quite a bit and looked steadier on her feet then she had been when we left.
I took Jeremy next. He also looked very different from the kid he’d started as. His hair was starting to grow out, but it was still not as long as before. He was also tanner from spending so much time outside. He was still kind of small, but he’d grown too and was no longer the tiny ten year old, but the slightly small eleven year old.
Bob was next and he was changed as well. When we’d started he’d been attractive, but not the most attractive guy I’d met. His hair went back to being a crazy light blond, he’d become tan in Vegas. He was also more muscular and was quite cute.
Jenny came next and she had also changed. She’d become more grown up and like a woman. From both puberty and being in a chair a lot her body had changed. She was still crazy thin, but her curves were more pronounced. She looked incredibly beautiful.
Karen was after her and I’d always known Karen was pretty, but not like that. Her hair stayed slightly darker and less obnoxiously bright, which she loved. She’d also lost some of the roundness in her face and some weight in her stomach, which made her more beautiful.
Finally I stripped my hair and looked in the mirror. I’d certainly changed as well. Physically I looked a bit like the cheerleaders I’d always hated. I’d never been overweight or anything, but I’d never had the perfect hourglass body or been stick thin. I realized now that between the weight I’d lost and what I’d put on again I did look like that in some ways. I was still more muscular than they were, especially in my arms.
I went out and suggested we get going and stop for lunch. The others agreed and we started the hike. It was ten miles to the next bus station we needed, which sucked, but we were going through multiple counties. About a mile in Kelly was already dragging her feet and so Jenny picked her up and had her riding piggy back. After about a mile of that we heard a shrill shrieking sound and turned around to see Jenny’s foot stuck in a tree root that cut across the side walk and her laying face first on the ground with her hands supporting her and Kelly’s weight. Karen quickly lifted Kelly off her back and I went over to help get her foot out of the root. She maneuvered into a sitting position and I looked at her foot. Her ankle was already changing colors and swelling, which were bad signs to begin with. I went into the bag and grabbed a pair of sandals and switched her shoes right away so she wasn’t swelling in the sneakers and cutting off circulation.
“How bad does it hurt?” I asked gently. I was examining it as best as I could.
“I’m fine.” I touched it gently and she hissed, “Okay so it’s pretty awful.” I raised an eyebrow. “Okay it hurts like hell and I want to stab someone.”
“Can you move it?” I asked. She nodded and hissed as she moved her foot a very small amount. She raised an arm and Jeremy ad I helped her to her feet. I glanced at my watch. “We were gonna stop in like forty five minutes in the town with the busses. We can stop here instead.”
“No,” She said. “We should keep going now.” Karen had Kelly, Bob had the bags, and Jeremy and I stood cautiously near her as we kept walking at a slightly slowed, but steady pace.
It took us closer to an hour to get to the city, but we were fine with it. We went into a restaurant and while we were eating we got Jenny a bag of ice for her ankle that was already black ad purple and completely massive. We ate and the polite waitress gave us more ice.
We took the bus as far north as it went. We had planned to walk to the next city, since it was only four and take that bus before stopping, but it was five miles. A glance at Jenny’s foot told me she would never make it that far. She however, wouldn’t hear of stopping. About two miles in she stumbled and that was the end of that.
“Jeremy, take the bag,” Bob said passing the kid the bag. “Karen, take the tent.” They each took a heavy bag and I had Kelly asleep on my shoulder. Bob lifted Jenny into his arms.
“I am not going to have you carry me bridal style for three miles.” She huffed.
He rolled his eyes, “Then I’ll give you a piggyback ride.”
“I can walk,” She tried to protest. When we all gave her looks that told her not to push it she carefully allowed Bob to put her on his back. We started trekking the last three miles. We immediately paid and loaded onto the bus. We got out and set up camp. I cooked Smores and hot dogs for everyone and we ate in the tent with Jenny laying down or sitting the whole time.
“Can we go see stars?” Kelly asked. I nodded and took the kids over to a hill I’d seen earlier. We lay back and we pretended this was a different place, a happier one. Kelly fell asleep and we went back. Jeremy sat outside with me.
“Sydney,” He asked quietly. “Will things ever be normal again?”
I sighed and looked at him. He looked so broken. His eyes were wet and he was just staring into the distance. It was my fault too. All of this was my fault. I realized I could help him. “Yeah buddy. We’re gonna fix things. I promise to do my best.”
“Really,” He asked.
I nodded, “Yeah kiddo.” He hugged me and set his head on my shoulder. I hugged him and rubbed gently up and down his back. He climbed into the tent and I was joined by Karen.
“So this was our adventure,” She said. “I think we did good.”
“We did, didn’t we?” I smiled. “But all adventures have an ending.”
“Yeah,” She said sighing, “But they also come with memories that you’ll always have. Will you ever forget this?”
I shook my head, “Never.”
She smiled, “That’s the purpose. Sometimes it’s about the journey, not the destination.”
“Your right,” I smiled. “This was great. Well apart from dressing like a hoe, and Bob getting fired, and Jenny’s ankle. Actually this has been about a fifty/fifty mix.”
We laughed, “But it was worth it. So maybe it was like a sixty/forty.”
“True,” I agreed. “Definitely worth it.”
She yawned widely. “I’m heading to bed.”
“I’m joining you.” Bob said crawling out to sit where Karen had been. “I’m sorry.”
“For?” I asked.
He frowned, “This is my fault. I egged you on and I lost my jobs. If I didn’t exist you’d be living a normal life.”
“I punched her, not you. I dragged us to
an asylum. I chose to run away. I am the one who should apologize.”
“No,” He said, “There’s nothing for you to apologize for.”
“Your right. This was all for the better,” I said smiling.
He smiled, “Alright night.” We headed into the tenet and lay down.
How cute. You’re finally happy. Watch One go screw it up.
“Better not.”
You’ll ruin it yourself feeble one. I don’t need to.
“Well right now I’m happy and tired so go away.” I settled into my sleeping bag and fell into a deeper sleep than I’d have thought possible. I suppose eventually your body needed the rest more than it wanted to stay awake.