I stared amused as Kyle muttered a few words to his meal before eating. Was he praying?
"Are you seriously praying over your food? You think it's poisoned?" I asked, my voice low.
"Not really, but just in case she mixed in some love portion, I wouldn't want myself eating that," Kyle said and I giggled. By she, he meant Olivia.
"You're unbelievable," I said and he chuckled.
The tunnel was dark now, the torches had gone off. Not quite surprising though as it was already past 12, making me wonder; how did time run so quickly?
"Thanks," Kyle said and I stared at him oblivious of what he was talking about.
"For what?" I asked.
"For treating this," he said gesturing to his wounded arm.
"It's nothing," I said.
"And thank you too," I added.
"For?"
"For saving Monica, I owe you alot," I said.
"You don't owe me anything. I just thought I needed to get my name off Santa's naughty list," he joked and I chortled.
"How did you get on the list in the first place?" I asked.
"Don't know. We all do alot of wrongs atimes," he said.
He was right though. People do stuff that not only ends up on Santa's list but also offends their Creator, including me. I'm sure my Creator would give me a good whack on my ears for the wrongs I've committed. That's why I try to make up by helping others.
The rest of the group chattered among themselves; Miles and Monica consistently debating over something while Alex and Olivia cut in atimes when they derailed from the conversation.
"That reminds me. I wanted to show you something," Kyle said and brought out his phone from his hoodie pocket. He made a few taps and showed me an image.
"Wow!" I gasped with a big smile.
It was a picture of a bioluminescent sea. I loved the bioluminescent sea. I always go down to the beach every Saturday evenings with Monica just to see them.
"Took a picture while we were in there, Monica said you loved it so I suggested we brought you a pic," Kyle said.
"How thoughtful of you," I said with utmost sincerity.
"Means a lot," I said handing over his phone back to him.
I let out a yawn tired of the days bustle. It had been a long day for everyone.
"Sleepy?" Kyle asked.
"Mmm," I muttered in agreement.
"You should have some rest," he said.
I laid down on the warm sandstone floor grateful for its warmth.
"Good night,"
"Good night Mr. K," I remembered saying before I hit the hay.
__________
"Avril."
"Avril."
I slowly opened my eyes beckoning to the calls of the people around me. At first, all I could see were blurry fragments of the world around me but after a minute or two, I sat right up.
"Seems like Alice went too far off in wonderland," I heard someone say.
"What time is it?" I asked.
"It's 9am in the morning," Monica replied.
9am?! How did I sleep that long? I bit my lip slightly embarrassed at the fact that I was the last to awake.
"It's okay. We all woke up a little before nine anyways," Miles said.
"I guess I should feel better?" I asked him.
"Well...."
"C'mon, Alex found a way outta here," Kyle said extending a hand. I grabbed it and he helped me on my feet.
"Thanks," I said dusting my self up.
"Um hello, I've been standing here for the past couple of minutes while you all have been there waking miss princess up for tea time," Alex butt in out of nowhere.
"Oh hey Alex," Monica said sarcastically and Alex rolled his eyes.
"They say you found a way out of here?" I asked moving closer to him.
"Um, is that a good morning?" He answered my question with a question.
"Good morning," I greeted, "so you found a way out of here?"
"Wow! Here I am trying to be a your guide which is literally out of my sage ways and you all are being ungrateful," Alex mummured.
Was he being reasonable right now? I thought within me. I guess he was a teeny tiny right though, he did help us, I won't mention the killing us part, but he did.
"Alright. Sorry Alex, we do owe you alot," I said. There, that ought to make the engine running.
"Now that's more like it," he said and I rolled my eyes. He was unbelievably charismatic.
"This is the door I found, I haven't been in it but it ought to lead us somewhere. It's the only door here that's unlocked," Alex said in a more serene voice; now that's more like it.
"Okay."
We all walked through the door and down the hallway it masked. We had absolutely no choice here. Every step was a risk but hey, we were fighting for our freedom here but i'd wished I knew the quest for freedom would be on a greater level.
Bright light beamed from down the hallway. It reminded me of the saying, 'at the end of the tunnel, there is light' but where would our 'light' lead us? We got closer to it and we squinted our eyes to walk pass the exit and my oh my, for the first time I believed in fantasy.
What lied before us was nothing short of magnificent. Before us laid a beautiful grassy field stretched beyond the horizon adorned with flowers of every kind and colour. The sky was a wonderful blue with white puffs of cloud hanging. The sun in its radiance shined brightly. A river less than five metres away from us shimmered. This was totally better than some fairy tale land.
"It's beautiful," I said as we all gasped at the enchanting scenery.
"It's magnificent," someone corrected and hell yeah, that person was right.
"The flower filled field."
"The clear blue sky."
"And just look at that sparkling river." Monica said and we all moved towards it till we got to the edge.
"So crystal clear," I said.
"Seems deep," Alex said as we peered at the water.
Suddenly, the water began forming ripples and blast! someone jumped out from the water. It was a woman, a lady to be precise. She looked like a fairy; fair skin, beautiful blue eyes, small crimson lips, dressed in a lovely long dress of white silk with a jeweler crown on her head. Her creator really did a lot of work there. She just floated in mid air staring at us, expressionless.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Glad you asked. I'm Cordelia, guardian princess of this river," she said, then added;
"Welcome to the River of Wishes."