The River's End

Jamie marched on. We followed.

A minute later: Jamie marched on. We followed.

An hour later: Jamie marched on. We followed.

An eternity later: Jamie marched on. We followed.

Perhaps it wasn't an eternity, but that is what it felt like. I dragged my feet along the floor as if the air had morphed into jelly. My legs felt heavy and bound to the floor with chains but I kept my slug-like pace. My shirt was damp with sweat and my face felt sticky and gross. I could feel the salty beads trickle down my red forehead and my hair sticking down onto it. The sun glared at us, its infiltrating rays attacking out vulnerable, teenage skin.

My bones felt heavy. My hair felt heavy. My legs felt heavy. I lost all control over my body as I ran on autopilot. Forward. Got to keep going. The river was shallow; the rocks at the bottom started to break through the smooth surface of the water.

Riley and Sky were next to me, not in a much better state. We all looked like cousins of Frankenstein's monster, mindless creatures limping on. Riley's honey blonde ponytail was clinging to her neck and Sky's bunches glimmered with sweat.

We were all gross, sweaty, lost idiots. Ok, maybe I was the only idiot for chasing a squirrel off the track. Despite our exhausted conditions, Jamie seemed unfazed. He carried on his pursuit of the river, determination trailing his footsteps. Man, it was annoying. Once Jamie understood that this river was NEVER GOING TO END, we planned on a little camp out, but it seemed like we were going to have to wait. With the unseemly strength of an elephant, the short, curly-haired nerd in front of us led us down to our certain doom.

If we did not stop in the next five minutes, I was going to collapse into a heap of screaming limbs, butterscotch blonde hair and anguished hopes.

We stopped. Jamie came to an abrupt halt and we saw why. The shallow, little creek had turned into a not-so-shallow, not-so-little, raging waterfall. It was at least as tall as a three story building, frothing white and blue. The river continued at the bottom at the same width, but deeper.

Oh well, we tried. Time to head back.

I swivelled round to walk back but that's when Riley's and Sky's faces turned a ghastly pale and a look of upmost horror haunted their eyes. They both gasped and I shot back around to see nothing. Just the waterfall. What was -

OH MAN. I peered down and saw a small bundle of black wool plummeting down towards the water.

"JAMIE!" I yelled and watched with unwavering, dreaded attention along with the girls. "PLEASE DON'T DIE, YOU STUPID NERD!"

Without a second thought, I ran towards the ledge and did the most stupid thing possible: I jumped.

I plunged downward, the wind whistling in my ears, making them pop. Splashes of water drenched me and drops splattered into my eyes as I hurtled down towards my friend. A splash. Some plop. A scream.

I pried my eyes open and squinted down as I saw Jamie's black mane disappear under a blanket of blue. Then, I looked up to another scream. Riley squealed as she dived next to me. And Sky fell to our level too. Her face was calm and she crossed her legs like she was meditating - in mid air - while falling to a stream with increasing speed that might just kill us.

She glanced at us with unamused smile and serenely spoke, "'Sup, guys. The weather today's pretty nice, right?"

She was talking about the weather. Right now? Oh, gosh.

Riley kept shrieking as her hair floated above her. She was afraid of heights and her eyes were glued shut, unlike her mouth. My eardrums were going to burst.

How long were we going to keep falling? I looked down. We were here. We smashed into the water and everything went black.