Gone (Parallel Trilogy, Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

stopped and looked around for a strong twig so that I could scrape off some of the muck. I quickly found a stick that would do the job.
    My shoulders had begun to ache and I was feeling quite warm, so I set my backpack on the slimy ground and took off my coat. After stuffing it inside my backpack, I used the stick I had found and scraped off as much mud from my shoes as I could.
    Satisfied, I tossed the stick, then reached into my backpack to get the water bottle. The first thing I touched was the rectangular shape of the granola bar I had ignored earlier. My stomach rumbled at the thought of eating it and I decided now was as good a time as any. After devouring the snack, I pulled the water bottle out and shook it, hoping that somehow that would increase the volume. The sound of the water splashing up the sides of the bottle only increased my thirst.
    I remembered learning somewhere that if you’re thirsty, dehydration has already set in. Then I remembered something more ominous. People had been found in the desert, dead, with a half-full water bottle right next to them. Apparently they had tried to save the water for later, but had died of thirst before later ever came.
    I unscrewed the lid and drank the remaining contents of the bottle, knowing that if I was to die out here, at least no one could laugh at me and say I had been stupid enough to not drink my water when I was thirsty.
    Tucking the water bottle in my backpack, hopeful I would come across a water source and be able to fill it up, I continued my hike. It felt like it had been an hour since I’d left the tunnel, but I still didn’t feel like I was any closer to the path.
    After a while I stopped to rest. A fallen log lay nearby and I sat on it, grateful to be off my feet. I removed my pack and leaned it against the log, then took in my surroundings. To my right was the way I had just come. Where the groundcover wasn’t too thick and the earth had become muddy, I saw my footprints, but where it was dry there was no sign I had come that way. In front of me a group of tree trunks leaned against each other. They reminded me of the teepee my father had built for my younger brothers in the backyard. To my left, the brush looked thicker than the way I had come. But behind me was no better, so I decided to push on and see where I ended up.
    Hauling my backpack onto my shoulders, I stood still for a moment as a thought occurred to me. Though I had absolutely no sense of direction, I felt like I had been walking in a straight line all this time, but I wondered if I should have turned at some point. Maybe I’d walked near the path, but had just missed it.
    Frustrated and hungry, I decided to go in the direction that had been at my back. I climbed over the log where I had been resting and squeezed through a pair of bushes that were in the way. Thick brush was everywhere. I felt tired just looking at what lay ahead, but I had no reason to go any other direction.
    With the need to find the easiest path through the underbrush, I found myself zigging and zagging all over the place. I knew I wasn’t going in a very straight line, but kept going anyway, grateful I wouldn’t need to find my way back to the hut where I had spent the night, because the chances of me finding it were slim.
    More than ever, I regretted running away and knew I would never do it again. It just wasn’t worth it. Mom and Dad might be worried, but I was the one suffering the most. Hungry. Thirsty. Sweating in the cool air. Tromping through the muddy forest. Yes, I was definitely the one suffering the most for my stupid, impulsive act.
    “Yes, Mom. I was impulsive,” I shouted as I flung my arms in the air. “I promise I’m going to stop being impulsive, okay?”
    Several birds flew out of the trees in alarm at my promise. Did that mean they didn’t believe me? Or maybe I was just being too loud again.
    “I’ll try not to be so loud either,” I whispered, then laughed. I knew that would never