Lauren--Part Twenty

Splog # 67

Twenty

   Now everything started getting dark and, when Lauren looked up at the mouth of the crater, she saw vast waves of gray smoke billowing up from it. She was having trouble staying on her feet because of the trembling of the mountain. And as the darkness increased, she despaired of finding the tree again. She looked at the coin and found that it was glowing in her hand. She held it up in front of her face and a thin stream of light emanated from it and pierced the mist that was engulfing her surroundings. No matter how she held the coin or which way she turned it, the ray of light pointed in the same direction. It must be pointing her to the tree, she thought. Slowly, taking small steps in order to maintain her precarious balance, she started following the line of light as it led her uphill. Each time the ground beneath her trembled, a low rumbling noise accompanied the shiver and she would have to be careful how she moved so she wouldn't fall. In between rumbles, there wasn't much sound (the marbles having ceased rolling in her vicinity), and she moved much quicker, hoping to reach the tree before the volcano reached its catastrophe. During a quiet spell, when there was scarcely any noise besides her footsteps and her breathing, a different sound all at once intruded on her ear. It was far off but she stopped for a moment to try to hear it more clearly. It sounded like a dog barking but, as there were mountains all around her, the sound had the quality of an echo. There was no possibility of determining from whence it had originated. She brought her attention back to the coin and its guiding ray of light. The atmosphere was becoming very hot and the smoke around her was thickening. It was becoming slightly difficult to breathe. A few more panting steps, however, and she saw a large shadow in the distance. She had reached the tree! She ran the last few steps and then it was looming in front of her.

   Just as she reached the tree, she heard a loud explosion and the ground gave a tremendous heave beneath her feet. Lauren was thrown up against the tree. She had a moment to notice that there was no longer the shape of a face on the trunk before the ground moved again and she fell backwards away from the tree. Before he could hit the ground, the branches of the willow whipped forward and grabbed her around the shoulders and the waist. She hung suspended for a moment and then the branches slowly lowered her to the ground. It was like lying on the deck of a ship in a stormy sea. The ground was rolling crazily and Lauren was thankful the branches hadn't tried to stand her up. Then she realized that both of her hands were empty. She must have dropped the coin when the ground started flinging her back and forth. The branches had placed her on her back and she now rolled over to see if she could get a glimpse of the coin. Hopefully, the glow would shine through the smoke. But there didn't seem to be anything to see except smoke. Now what? She put her head down on her arms to try to catch her breath. Lying there, she once again thought she heard the sound of barking. But this time it seemed much closer. Then the mountain started shaking again. And the branches wrapped around her shoulders. And the voice started repeating, "The time is here. The time is here."

   And then Splog was leaning over from behind her seat and shaking her by the shoulder to wake her up.

   "Lauren, we're here. We're here. Time to wake up. We're here."

 

   Lauren opened her eyes. She was stretched out on the seat she had been sharing with the dog, Austin. Austin was on the floor in front of her, panting and letting out with an occasional encouraging bark. Mason was sitting across the aisle, looking at her with a pensive expression on his face.