Chaper Four

"Abby!" I heard Alec call after me. But I wasn't listening..well, not really. I was concentrating on walking in the sand. It was slowly making its way into my shoes. It felt dry, warm, and it was very uncomfortable. I stopped to take off my shoes to empty out the sand. And just then I heard something fall to the ground with a loud "thump". Rather someone than something. "Abby!" Alec called again. "Just listen to me! I didn't mean it like I said..I just meant..you know. Chances are we're gonna get lost and you don't have the best eye for direction.."I turned around to face him with an aggravated look on my face. Alec flinched. "I didn't mean that either!"
    "Ugh!" I yelled spinning around and and leaving my shoes behind. I was heading in the direction of the first bridge, and I wanted to see what that statue was holding..maybe it had something to do with getting out of here. "What did you mean then?"I yelled back at Alec. I didn't mean to say it, it just slipped. I hadn't stopped staggering through the sand when I asked the question, and soon I heard Alec walking behind me trying to catch up.
    "I just meant...Think about what your grandma would want you to do! She'd want you to stay right where you were and wait for someone to come and get you!"
    I continued walking. "I don't know about you, but I really don't want to die in that stupid tube!" I said letting my thoughts come out. "And...who knows? This could be an adventure. And when have you known me to turn down adventure?" It wasn't a question, more of a
confirmation.
    Alec didn't respond, just like I wanted him to. He just walked behind me pondering on what I said, I assumed.
    We walked on like that until we reached the first bridge. It was bigger than I had imagined. We had to walk up a steep incline to reach it. At the bottom where the end of the two tree trucks were, there was little pieces of grass rising up here and there out of the sand. I noticed that the wood was some what rotted, but we could still walk across it because there was nothing dangerous under it. Just more sand. I wondered why someone had built a bridge, over nothing but sand. Maybe sometime before, there had been something other than sand under it, possibly lava. I stepped onto the bridge with this thought in mind, so my step was a bit more careful than I had planned it to be. Alec was following cautiously behind me, and he was holding onto the large tree truck so hardly his fingers were turning white. I tried to calm myself down before I calmed him. I took several deep breaths.
    "Just..calm down. Every thing's gonna be fine. Just like you said before." I jumped on the bridge once to see what would happen and Alec closed his eyes for a brief second expecting something horrible. But nothing happened, my first judgement of this bridge was better than the last. It was stable. I took a few more steps until I was just 40 feet away from the second bridge. I looked down at the lava that was nearing. The second bridge had no sand, just lava below it. Where the ground ended under the first bridge, was a good 100 foot drop. I wasn't exactly looking forward to switching bridges-and I doubt Alec was-but it meant that we were getting closer to going home. Or finding answers to an endless amount of questions.      
    I took a few more steps until I was standing on the end of the first bridge. Instead of Alec being behind me, he was beside me. "If you go down I'm going down with you." He said with a grin.
    I smiled very happily and hugged him. "There's the Alec I know!" And we both laughed.
    I pulled away from him to look at what was my future. Or so it seemed. The lava below the bridge was still calm..but I had read some where that volcanoes-or their lava-were never to be trusted. I took a deep breath and put my foot out; it landed on the second bridge soundlessly. I brought my other foot along with me then, and I was standing on the second bridge. Nothing had happened..I hadn't fallen, or tripped, or any of the things I usually do in situations like these. Everything was fine. Alec followed right beside me. He took just a half step to match mine, and then he was standing next to me again. We both took another breath and walked a few more paces. We were in the middle of the bridge now, and all was fine. I decided I just wanted to get it over with and run to the medieval style tower. To safety. Or so it seemed. I took Alec's hand and we both nodded once to each other then sprinted off.

Reviews

[Matthew V. H.]

The suspense about the bridge seemed forced to me. A trick i use to keep the suspense going is focusing on something else, so when the time comes for something to happen (or in this case nothing) it will be a complete surprise to the reader.

The dynamic between the two characters is very good. I am wondering hthey will deal with interaction between others in this new place.

[Forist.johnston]

That was too cute. I love her and Alec's friendship, as you've written it. Off to chapter 5!