By Morgan Hannah, Life & Style Editor
“Uuuhh…” Another moan escapes my lips and the sensation of sliding through sand increases. Hands above my head, it feels like I’m being dragged; light penetrates my eyelids and takes on a different tone as it shines through my skin. Red, urgent. It’s hard to tell what is going on but I just can’t seem to open my eyes.
I am reminded of the times my sister and I would often play dead. We were really young, and every time our parents went out and took us with them, Malory and I would make sure we were slumped like corpses in the back seat of the car. Dad would pull into the garage and turn off the vehicle, mom would open our doors and shake us to try and rouse us from sleep. But we were strong. We’d hold out, eyes closed, barely breathing, waiting to be carried—boots and all—off to bed. All of it in an effort to avoid having to brush our teeth and wash our faces before bed. I guess those games might have had something to do with the dramatic decrease in outings where our parents took us with. That, or the fact that Malory and I grew up and no longer needed supervision. And our teeth, well, that was our problem.
“M—Malory…” The name slips off my tongue before I can catch it. The dragging stops. I thud against the soft sand and a shadow comes across my face. I try again to open my eyes—they’re sticky and tight but I manage. It’s the creature with Malory’s eyes. It peers down at me, a new and unreadable expression on its face.
The creature parts its lips and a string of tranquil clicks and grunts comes out. Almost like it’s trying to communicate, like the art of language is lost. Raising my head up off the sand, I blink a couple of times, careful not to get too close to the creature.
“W-what are you trying to say?” I ask. It takes all my energy and I find myself slowly closing my eyes and falling back against the sand.
Abruptly, something wet falls across my face, it rolls down my skin, pushing my hair into the sand like a wet brush into paint. My eyes spring open to find myself propped beside a mountain. My ship is nowhere in sight. And the strangest thing… the mountain seems to be breathing!
Continuation of this exciting adventure next week!
