Curiouser and Curiouser 12

Bill

Run

I stood at the gate to the plane. I checked my phone one last time, still no messages from Alex. I was really worried. I put my phone in my bag. I had to board the plane now. I wouldn't be able to check my phone for hours. I knew it would drive me crazy that entire time.

"Maybe they went to the spa" Tom said.

"What!" I said.

"There's that spa out in the country by Collette's home. It's one of those where you go for around a week and leave phones, computers, and iPods outside. Maybe they needed to de-stress." I looked into his face. I could see how much he wanted it to be true. I really didn't think it was possible but I was willing to believe because it involved neither Alex being mad nor Alex being injured.

"I hope you're right" I told him

"Me too." We boarded the plane and I saw a black haired girl sit across from us. I also saw, in Toms face, that the poor girl was going to be his distraction.

Alex

My head slammed into the wall and I forced myself to remain conscious. I didn't know how long I had been here but the healing of my injuries told me about three days. I crawled away from the wall I put my boots and hoodie on I had ditched them so they wouldn't be destroyed. Out of my pocket I pulled my wedding ring I had hidden it, no need to make the psycho bitch madder, but now it was the one think I had to remind me of Bill. I hugged Colista and Karrot goodbye, I was getting out, and I was the only one who could survive so I was the only one who went. I got to the door and Dan opened it I slipped out. I went past him and to the front door Mike handed me a rifle and a switch blade, I just then remembered the fight that was the reason we hadn't talked for a few years I twisted I snapped the rifle into his head, no one calls my husband gay and makes it out without injury. Okay I'm a little bit of a sadist and I have a lot of mental issues. Dan looked at me, "now u can say u didn't let me out."

"Alex, you are so strange!" he said then motioned away. I looked up found the summer triangle picked a star and RAN! Under branches over roots I utilized every single endurance trick I had ever learned. I thanked the lord for having Coach Lemmer for all those years, he had made us run till we dropped, and he said it would be useful, he had no idea. As I ran I prayed, to Jesus, to the Father, To the Spirit, to Our Lady, to The Saints, that I not trip and injure myself Karrot and Colista were dependant on me. My back throbbed, my body ached but just like I had in basketball I ignored my body and kept going. The sun rose and I still kept running. I found an alcove formed by a fallen tree where I could sleep. I fell onto the ground adrenaline had gotten me this far but I was so tired. I wanted to sleep but I needed three things first. One, food two, water, three, relief from the pain in my mind. I was too tired to hunt but this place was perfect for mushrooms as unappetizing as they are they are still edible. I found a patch of the non poisonous kind and cut them. I thanked God that while I like my friends grew up in a city. My father was a through and through southerner. He used to take my sister and I out mushroom hunting but that was a long time ago before my sister left, pushing the precipitous state of my father's mental health too far. I had resented her for a long time. She got to have daddy growing up but I didn't. When she got to high school she rebelled from our family's rules and ran to her mom's house-hold. That had pushed my dad's bipolar over the edge. I spent the rest of my life hiding things he could pawn or sell and hiding myself from his temper, not that he would ever hurt me. But I myself had always held a fragile mental state. I shook my head. The past was gone now. I forced myself back into the here and now. I was quite aware that this was my minds way of coping with what had happened but I couldn't relapse like that. I found a small spring. I thank to God that I was this lucky. I finally crawled back into my hiding spot and thought; I had one more thing to deal with. I pulled out my switch blade and pushed my left sleeve up to my upper arm. I was frozen for a moment. This was the way that I could deal with the pain, the mental pressure that I had. I could not let the manic depression come back. I needed more control than that. But Collette, I argued with myself. I didn't even pause to think that once again I was talking to myself. I missed her more than I could explain, in so many ways. We were the closest. She had known all those cuts, all my pain, and she had accepted it all. It was different from Colista, who had tried to stop me, which also meant a lot. I hadn't even been able to tell Allie and Karrot. It had been horrifying to watch her life demolish like that. But I knew she would have loved it. So dramatic, so traumatic, perfect for a horror movie. I knew she would have loved it. I realized then that I had my way to say goodbye. It just happened to coincide with my need to relieve the mental pain. Cutting was the one freedom I had had that she had not. She had been too monitored to cut but I had been able to. So in my last tribute, I picked up the blade, I wrote the word goodbye into my arm. The stinging in my arm cleared my head and I was able to fall asleep, curled around my wedding band.

I woke up as the moon was rising. Suddenly I had the oddest urge to sing. Well truly, I thought, it's not odd at all. I have always sung randomly especially when I was tired or stressed.

"Let us build a house where love can dwell, and all can safely live. A place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive. Build of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of fate and vault of grace. Where love of Christ shall end divisions, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place." I smiled to myself, it was truly my inherent nature popping out, all of my old habits returning. I got up and went in search of more mushrooms. I was grateful for my strict edification in this area. I began to walk. I got to the pond from yesterday and took a drink. If I was going to make today worth wile I had to slow down from such a taxing pace. I didn't have the extra push of adrenaline to push my body nearly so hard. As I walked on, I went over my extensive injuries. As numerous as they were the situation didn't look life threatening. I was thinking just that when my ankle went. I had always had weak joints and my ankles were the worst but this was really bad.

"No!" I yelled as I went down. I heard a snap and pain went through me like a tsunami. I swore spectacularly as I got the boot off and examined my ankle. Broken, Damn, Once again, I employed my colorful language as I sat and braced my ankle using sticks and strips of cloth cut from my sleeve I was able to bind my ankle, get it back in the boot, and immobile. I stood up and balanced on one leg and grabbed the branch above my head and pulled myself up. After a break I was able to craft a crutch so I would be able to walk. I got back down on the ground and once again began my journey. I went on like that for days. Sun and moon rose and set. Time began to mean nothing to me. I was still searching for help, for a way to get back and save my friends. Eventually, as the days wore on, I grew more resilient and was able to walk without the crutch. I barely survived that time. Eventually the logical side of my brain lost control. It wasn't unusual to see dilutions. And that's what I thought it was at first when I stumbled upon my first sign of human life, a plane. I pushed myself forward but as soon as I was close enough I felt the empty feeling, the feeling of death around it and backed away slowly. There was a small trail and I followed it, barely knowing why. Until I saw a steady curl of smoke on the horizon. I heard a popping sound, so much like the sound of a gun it made me jump. That was all my body could handle. Malnourished and exhausted, it gave up the fight. I collapsed onto the ground. With the realization that if people never found me I would never wake up again.

A.N.- THE END!!!! The sequel will be uploaded my MistressFang, it's called Flight 289 down Tokio Hotel style, or something like that, its four in the morning so cut me some slack.