Rescue

Part 6: The Fish

    Right now Tanner is collecting firewood while I'm in a considerably tall tree trying to examine our surroundings.

    We ran for a good fifteen minutes or so without stopping, so we're probably about a mile into the woods. We could easily walk out back into civilization, but we're now both on the search-list.

    I slap a mosquito on my arm and climb down the tree when Tanner comes back with an armful of wooden logs.

    "I saw a lake from the tree, there might be fish in there we can cook."

    "Lead the way."

    We begin to take a stroll towards the lake, not bothering to pick up speed. We aren't in a rush anymore, so we walk side by side while I carry half of the firewood Tanner found.

    "Hey, uh... Tanner?"

    "Call me Ray."

    I slow down for a second in surprise, then catch back up to him.

    "Ray is your real name?"

    "Yeah."

    "My real name is Adora."

    "Cool. My name means wise protector, what about yours? I've never heard the name 'Adora' before."

    "It's a pretty rare name, yeah. It means beloved."

    "Perhaps I'm meant to be the wise protector of the beloved, then."

    I stop in my tracks and he stops too. Did he just say that?! Or was that in my head? He turns back around and looks into my eyes.

    "Are you alright?" he asks with a cocked eyebrow. I cough and nod, and he continues walking forward as I catch up to him, almost forgetting what I wanted to ask in the first place.

"So... Ray?" I say once I reach his side.

"Yes?" he asks with his eyes forward.

"Why are you running?"

He coughs then scratches the back of his neck. "I finally had enough of my dad's anger issues, I guess."

I understand what he means and just nod. I pull a tree branch out of the way and we approach the shore of the lake. "Go ahead and start the fire, I'll get us dinner." I suggest.

Ray sets down the logs and gets to work while i take off my shoes and socks. I roll up my leggings to just above my knees and start going into the water.

My eyes carefully scan for any kind of movement, and I spot a fish. I carefully creep up and prepare my hand to grab it. I quickly swipe into the water and try to grab the fish, but it slips out of my grasp before I can pull it out of the water.

The smell of a campfire makes me turn around, and I see Ray sitting down, drumming a rhythm on his legs next to a burning fire. I smile and turn back around, my eyes immediately landing on a fish. A pretty big one, too. Once again, I very slowly creep up. Instead of just putting my hands into the water, I dive face-first at it.

My hands clamp around its body and I'm completely submerged in the water with my eyes closed. I'm so focused on getting a firm grasp at it that I barely even notice when Ray grabs my waist and pulls me onto my feet.

He laughs when he sees how big the fish is, probably more than a foot long. I awkwardly run out of the lake and put the flopping fish on a stone, holding it with one hand. I draw my other hand back and karate chop the fish just behind the gills. It stops moving as soon as my hand makes impact.

"We have dinner!" Ray says through laughter behind me.

"Slow your roll, buster, we have to cook it. Get me a stick and I'll gut this thing."

Ray lets out a dramatic sigh and goes to find a stick in the area. I find two sturdy twigs small enough and I use them to basically dig the fish's guts out of the body.

When Ray comes back with the stick and I puncture it all the way through the fish. We sit down by the fire together and take turns holding it over the flames while the fire's heat helps dry my clothes.

"Is it cooked yet?" he asks.

"A few more minutes left." I hear a groan and look over to see his mouth watering at the fish while I turn it. "Man, it's getting dark out isn't it?"

He looks up at the sky as it's descending into a purplish hue. "We have to find a place to sleep, soon."

"We can sleep right here if we wear our hoodies to avoid mosquitoes."

"Alright, sounds good."

I take the fish off the fire and we eat our dinner while talking to each other about our situation.

We put on our hoodies and put out the fire. That night, we exchanged our good night wishes for the second time and spend our second nights away from our homes in the middle of a forest.