"How much farther do you think we have to walk?" Naomi complained. 5 hours had passed, simply walking through the cold, dark, dense forest.
"Not much farther I don't think. This is the final stretch, but if you're tired let's take a break." Keshet responded.
"Let's sit down here for a minute," I insisted, "I wouldn't want to lose too much blood."
I sat down on a tree that had fallen over, gripping my right shoulder, Naomi had done her best to wrap it with fabric from her skirt, but the endless bleeding only seeped deeper into the cloth.
"Once we find people, we need to get them to help you. If you don't get patched up properly, you might die Lavi." Keshet said strongly.
The thought of dying didn't really register, like I instinctively knew that I wouldn't die. Then again, can I really trust that instinct? Who's behind it? Am I just insane?
The 3 of us remained in silence for a couple of minutes, then I stood up.
"Well, I can't just let myself die like that, can I?" I brushed the dirt off my pants.
"Nope." Keshet said, smiling for the first time in a while. He and Naomi joined me in getting up from the log.
We continued walking for a while, when Keshet and I made eye contact. Keshet noticed it first.
"Lavi, your eyes!"
"My eyes?" I looked down to my palms for answers, then when I glanced back at Keshet. I noticed it too. "Keshet, your eyes are red."
"Yours are too!" Keshet agreed.
"What about mine?" Naomi asked, practically peeling her eyes open.
"It's all of our eyes…" I said.
"Do you think it has to do with the guards?" Keshet asked, "That somehow, as a last ditch effort they turned our eyes red?" Keshet imposed.
"That's actually not that far-fetched. I wouldn't know how, but I wouldn't be surprised." I agreed.
"Well, whatever the origin, let's be careful not to show anyone our eyes right now." Keshet said.
We pressed forward through the forest, now cautious to hide ourselves from any people we might find.
* * *
Finally, the beautiful morning sun broke through with ferocity. Without saying a word, the 3 of us rushed towards it.
We pumped our arms hard, rushing the final stretch to freedom…
And we reached the edge. We had made it out of the forest.
The 3 of us stopped running, and took a long breath. Now, looking up towards the unblocked sun, we put our arms on each other's shoulders.
"Do you remember our dream?" I asked.
"How could I forget it?" Keshet answered.
"I vowed to wait patiently; all to see this sight one more time." Naomi said.
"One day," I began once again, "One day we will not be shackled by this town, one day we will see the same sight but even more beautiful, because we will see it in freedom." I paused. "We made it."
"Not quite yet." Keshet broke it to me, "Remember the last part? 'There will be no Laosarch, and no soldiers, but only people. All of us will be equally deserving of freedom in the eyes of us all. That is my dream.' We still haven't made it out of Sarah, so everyone still sees us as just Laosarch."
"We have a long way to go, don't we?"