Planning an Mapping

Skylar goes back and her life is put in danger.

Chapter 5: Planning and mapping

 

 

As a child I was homeschooled way up in the beautiful mountains and we visited the city down below once a week. Freddy was my age so he learned alongside me. We went slow the first few days but soon things got back to normal.

One day during lunch break I began planning a new expedition to the world. I begged my mom for a new blank note book the day before and that was going to be used as my catalog book. In my normal journal I planned to steal my mom’s video camera so I could map the area and find the Ice Demon hiding places, and I also planned to take her polaroid camera that developed photos as soon as I took them so I wouldn’t have to wait.

Freddy was a gently soul with a quiet voice, “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

He grinned, his bright white teeth contrasting against his dark skin, “Your planning to do something aren’t you?”

“No.”

His voice got real soft, “Did you really see the Ice Demons?”

“Uh-huh it tipped me out of my boat and took my food then dumped me outside, I was lucky that I knew where I was going.”

His eyes widened, “You’re lying.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am. Not.” I said and stood up, giving him a final nod of my head I left. I sat in my room trying to think of what this trip would be focused on, if I was gone for too long mom would never let me out of the house again so I needed something that would only take a few days and allow me to find an exit, after looking through a few travel guides I knew I had to map the area and know travel times.

After writing down a list of places I needed to know how long it took to get too I went back to school.

That same night as I was supposed to be lying in bed, I planned out how many days of food I was going to need, I planned for a week plus two extra meals for just in case. I thought leaving on Saturday, three days away, would be best because nobody ever played attention to what was going on on Saturdays. I began making sandwiches during the day and late into the afternoon the very next day, when my mom asked me why, I told her I wanted to be like mommy and make food. She let me make sandwiches until my heart’s content.

The next day while she went to go pick up Freddy I snuck into her room and stuffed the required items deep in my bag. Freddy saw me in my notebook again, “What are you planning?”

“Nothing.”

“An adventure?”

“Maybe.”

“Can I come?”

“No.”

“Why not.” He pouted eating his brownie first.

“Because I’m not going anywhere, I’m staying home.”

“Swear on your life.”

I crossed my finger, “I swear on my life.”

“OK.”

I don’t remember the time I woke up because my alarm went off, but it was early the sun hadn’t even risen. Wrapped tightly in clothing and backpack on my back, I stealthy opened out door and left. I got my boat from behind the house and slid down the hills using my branch paddle until I again came to the hole. I stopped took out  the video camera from my backpack positioned myself so I would get the best view without tipping over and again for a moment all there was was ice. Then the world emerged, I spun around and around and around, the air was so crisp. I grinned as I went down the slide, I felt like a princess being pronounced a queen. When it stopped I ended the recording. I put it in my bag and took out my note book for the journey and checked my watch, and wrote down ‘slide is ten or eleven minutes long. I am now going to make my way to the lake.’

Climbing a tree I noted down the direction it was from the entrance and began walking. I brought a compass that time so it was no longer necessary to constantly shimmy up a tree to make sure I was going the right way. I sat down for lunch in a rare patch of  land free of grass or shrubs. 

As I ate my lunch a snake came out of the grass, it stared at me with beady eyes, I took out the camera and snapped a picture. The snake held still not sure how to react. It too was light brown with a dark brown design. I snapped three pictures of it, put the camera away and wrote in the journal, ‘Animal: Snake, Where found: In clear area while eating lunch. Behavior: It stared at me wriggled its head then slithered off, more investigation it needed.’ Packing up my stuff quickly I followed it. ‘Eats the large hairy grasshoppers and the black mice that live in the rocky icy walls.’ I wrote I caught a grasshopper, ‘Animal: Hairy Grasshopper, Where Found: Hopping through grass while investigating snake (Snake did not leave my sight) Behavior: Acts like any other grasshopper except it jumps to my waist.’

I decided that was enough time snapping pictures and watching animals. I continued my way. The snake hadn’t taken me far enough off course to where it would affect my time. As I walked I managed to take come pictures of the fuzzy deer. ‘Animal: Deer’ I wrote just as the light was disappearing, Where found: Everywhere. Behaviors: They are quick like horses yet very graceful and don’t need a running start to jumping than I could ever hope. There is not difference in gender that I can notice. They are very shy and run away before I can take a picture.’ The pictures I had managed to take were off different deer.

Finishing my deer entry I shimmied up a tree, ‘Journey almost over, I am about a day and a half away.’

After starting a fire, I reviewed the video footage and I was right. There were two lakes polar opposite of each other with three large rivers and a few smaller streams leading off into ponds that connected them. I drew them in the notebook put my stuff away and laid my head back. The ice roof let in no light. The animals calls of the night comforted me as I fell asleep.

Breakfast was eaten on the move and I walked very relaxed and happy. I snapped a few pictures of the common shrubs trees and grasses and a pretty yellow flowed that was found everywhere.

As I walked I paid more attention to the plant life, on a certain grass there were berries that I noticed squirrels and chipmunks would fight over. It was bright red and purple which is why I named them marble berries. Carefully I stuck one in my mouth and chewed once. It broke and my lips puckered so tight I thought they might disappear. I chewed once more and broke the three seeds and sweet relief came into my mouth.

I smiled and jotted down a note to break the seeds, I snapped a picture and put them with the rest. Then I grabbed three more and continued my way with puckered lips and a smile when the sweet seeds broke. At first I didn’t think I’d make it but just as the last rays of light were fighing a losing battle to break through the ice my eyes fell upon the lake.

I expected it to be some awe inspiring moment that I would cherish for the rest of my life but it went dark with nothing special happening, I started my fire and ate my dinner as usual.

A branch snapped and I looked up but didn’t see anything, then prowling out of the grass was the beast. I froze too scared to do anything else.  The creature looked at me then to the fire with its big golden eyes that glowed in the absence of light. The big thing laid down right next to me. It’s jowls still bloody from its last meal. We eyed each other for the longest time but then it closed its eyes and went to sleep. I must’ve dozed off at some point because I woke in the middle of the night.

The fire was starting to dim, I was shivering despite not having used a blanket. The beast had wrapped itself snuggly around me. Its fur was soft an breathing even. The sounds of the night were slowing as light slowly started to break through the ice.

The beast opened an eye look at me, yawned showing its vast array of killing teeth. It stood up leaving me. An icy blast hit me so suddenly that a yelp escaped my lips. It looked at me stretched out the loped back past the water up the rock gracefully leaping from one to another. I watched until it disappeared into a cavern.

I wasn’t able to fall back asleep so I decided to try something risky. I stripped down and plunged into the water. It was as warm as any bath and so clear I could see perfectly underwater. Fish swan away from me and I followed them. They were beautiful, mixes of shades and tints in the intricate random patterns.

I used my blanket like a towl. I felt so refreshed despite lastnights horrors, packing up I ate my breakfast by the calm lapping of the lake. I marked my journal with two days as travel time. For a moment I wondered where to go and if I did go should I first go back to the entrance? For sake of time I decided to go directly to the other lake.

Finding the river I walked beside it. When the light started diming I began looking for a tree to climb so that I could see the world. However none were tall enough to give me a full visual of the land.

Looking for a different way, I noticed that all of the walls of the world were like those next to the lake. A mix of rock and ice, however the problem that getting to that was a quarter of a mile on the other side of the river which was a quarter of a mile across on its own.

It was flowing peacefully but quickly and the sky was growing darker. I hesitated with the idea but jumped into my boat and sailed down the river. I guided myself to the opposite shore and when I reached my destination it was too dark to do anything. I started my fire, ate my dinner and went to sleep.

Howling of the wolves woke me the next morning bright and early. They played on the opposite side of the river like dogs. Playing with game that I assumed, at the time, was already dead.

Skipping breakfast I put out what was left of my fire and began to climb. The whole side was made of ice and rock. That jutted out and in at odd angles forming deep caves big enough to fit three cows.

I carefully began to climb, placing my hand on the rock part only. I set to work tugging myself and my backpack higher and higher. Placing my hand on the next cliff, using my feet to push myself up. I soon reached a good height. Looking down I sucked in a breath, I was really high up. My boat far below on the ground seemed to be less than a dot; The lake I was going to was spectacular, I saw a small patch of cleared land and that’s where the wolves played, the deer traveled alone and the birds circled gracefully in the sky singing their tune to the world.

Taking out the camera I snapped a picture, there were no signs of Ice Demons anywhere. I had spent an hour and a half scaling it and nothing. I put everything away and looked down. Getting up is easy but getting down will scare the hell out of anyone. I slowly placed my foot on a rock and moved down, then I repeated it moved very slowly. I was half way down, and was doing good but I was just as careful. I placed my foot on a sturdy rock tested it, moved down, placed my foot, tested it, moved down. I repeated this until I fell.

Some funny things happen when your that high up and you fall, first you give up then you scream then for a split second everything slows. Lucky for me I only fell about ten feet before landing on a large icy ledge.

I laid there for a few minutes catching my breath and wondering if I was still alive, then I sat up. My head hurt but I was fine, I checked my back remarkably everything but the video camera was unharmed, I mean all my food was flat but to what could have happened everything was OK.

I managed to get back down without any further difficulties. I took out my notebook, ‘I fell, I am unharmed but I broke the video camera. I am going to use the river to make up for lost time.’

I pushed my boat into the water and made it down the river, most of the animals looked at me funny. When it got dark, I pulled over. To shake to eat I went right to sleep. I don’t know what time I woke but I was hungry. So I ate and continued walking next to the river only stopping to pee and fix my boat. It was a little past noon when I got to the lake.

Like the other lake there was a cave at the end of this lake too but my view was not clear, water fowl of every color and kind were on the water in the air and under the water. They were so loud that it took me a minute to figure out that it was all coming from them. I took out the camera and snapped a picture, ‘Birds of all kind come here to eat the fish and a yellow green plant, but another animal is eating them.’ The animal looked like a tailless monkey with cats paws and a small dogs snout and gray fur that matched the bottom of the water. It hid in the water then swam up dragging down and drowning the birds before crawling out of the water to eat them.

This worried me a lot and I wanted to warn the birds the creature was so well hidden and so quick I never knew when the attack was going to come. I spent the whole day watching them, and as night fell the birds grew quiet and the sounds of night lulled me to sleep. I woke up in the morning with a yawn fire not even smoldering. The birds were waking up making their usual noise ‘using the river I have been able to reach the lake in two days instead of however it would normally take. There is more life at this lake than the other.’

I wasn’t sure where I should go next, I took out my photo of the world and examined it. The bald patch would be interesting. I checked the amount of food I had left the wolves home was on the far side and almost directly in the middle of the world.

I had enough food for three days but the trip back to the other lake would take three days by foot and two by river and I still didn’t know how to leave. I don’t know why but I didn’t care. I explored while eating, I noticed lots of bugs I never noticed before. Furry butterflies the were brown and green, looked like moths but drank flower nectars. Small mammals that burrowed into the ground, they didn’t have as much fur as the other creatures.

Around noon I saw the wolves. They were hunting down a deer I watched in horror as they killed her. I watched as they celebrated and ate her then carried large chunks away to give to the others that weren’t there I sat down, it wasn’t like I didn’t know other animals hunted and killed other animals, I ate meat all the time.

But seeing the wolves do that and be happy about it, I ate my sandwich, it was tuna fish. I thought, what the wolves did was OK I mean they have to eat. By the end of lunch O realized I couldn’t say it was wrong without my hypocritical, and that even though I didn’t like them doing it was necessary for them to do it in order to live. I continued my exploration and contemplation on my behavior in comparison to the animals here.

I took pictures of the new creatures that I found as the air around me darkened I set my fire, ate my diner and laid down to go to sleep but I couldn’t. I itched to explore more, I put out my fire packed up my things and walked in utter darkness, not a single ray of light shone through. I was completely lost, I had been all day and now I would be all night. I loved it. Then out of the darkness, a pair of glowing eyes. I studied them curiously, they were wide yellow. Then it screamed at me, I jumped, and it screamed at me again. I stared at the eyes not moving.

My eyes started to adjust to the darkness and I could pick out the outline of things, and suddenly it grew in size. I sucked in a breath and it shrunk then flew away. I waited a minute then continued. The sounds of night were different that night like something big was going to happen. Something white flashed through the grass, I chased I knew what it was. An Ice Demon. I chased it all night long after I lost sight of it I was still chasing it.

When I finally gave up I was so exhausted that I didn’t bother to light a fire I just laid down in my boat and fell asleep. I don’t know when I woke up but I’m sure it was past noon and there was a different feel to the air.

I took out my compass and walked to the first lake, it was strange. Deer were being aggressive, I only saw two wolves all day walking together. At the lake two beasts were squaring off, I was so scared. I looked around, there were three other pairs of beasts doing the same. I ran into the water and jumped into my boat.

The beasts were too preoccupied with their war to notice me. I paddled until I was in the ice cave, there was a funny scent again and I got drowsy. I fought it off. Dozens of little eyes peered at me. I looked back towards land, two more pairs had joined the fighting. I blacked out.

When I awoke I was outside the hole, everything in my bag was safe except for the video camera which had been stolen. I walked pack with a horrible pain in my foot.

When I got home no one was there so I took off my shoe to reveal a bloddy mess and a blue gem.

I wasn’t stupid I was ten, I knew what it was worth but it came from the world and I wasn’t going to sell it. I took a string and tied it to the gem. It looked like there was a cross on it, then I tied it around my wrist and went to sleep.

The next day we went through the talk about me not leaving the house. They fixed up my foot, later I realized that the animals were mating and decided not to go back until they were finished.

 

Author's Note

I like the story, do you guys? I mean I only want to write things that people want to read.

Reviews

[Imara]

Opps I put five, that's actually supposed to be chapter two. I'm sure I'll get around to fixing that eventually, not tonight though maybe tomorrow... :3