Joan

Chapter XXIV

With my mud-soaked clothes caking up in the sun, I figure it's probably best if I find a watering hole or something to wash off in, but I can't lose track of those footprints so I suck up the discomfort and press on like the soldier I am.

To think, the day has only begun and already I'm ready for a midday nap and maybe even the end of the day itself- so far, nothing good has come of it.

I don't get very far with the prints before I come across a Godsend.

Before me lies a nice wide yet shallow river. Its many rushing rapids create a nice relaxing atmosphere, but all I can think about is washing up.

Stripping down till I'm butt naked, I fling my soiled clothes aside and splash into the river. Thankfully, the water is a comfortable room temperature which feels amazing on my sweaty skin. Turns out the middle of the river is a bit deeper than the edge, so I wade my way in deeper to continue cleaning myself.

Rinsing off all the sweat and grime and bird spit and swampy mud water, I don't even occupy my mind with the very real thought that this river could be contaminated or have some hellish parasite or slimy creature in it. Sighing blissfully, I move onto taking care of my hair, washing out all the ick and getting it clean and moist again.

By the time I walk out of the water, I feel like a new person.

I know I don't have time for this, but after such a rejuvenating bath I can't imagine getting in the same filthy clothes as before. As bougie as that makes me sound, I'd rather not suffer the feeling of walking around in dirty- and let's be honest- puke worthy smelling clothes after taking a nice clean bath.

So I get to washing my clothes the best I can by hand. I'm not sure if you can wash calves skin pants- or if you even should- but I'm willing to try it. And, yes, I'm washing naked, what else am I supposed to do?

While I wash my clothes, I get to thinking and wondering- mostly about the same old things I've been thinking and wondering about since I dropped here. I worry about Brent and how he's coping- he's probably giving that Tymos creep a hard time (serves the jerk right), but I always have to remember that Brent's only twelve, he's still a kid who's probably scared and worried about what's going to happen to him. He knows I wouldn't just abandon him like that, or at least I hope he does (I'm cold-hearted but I'm not the devil, contrary to what some might believe).

As I wash, I feel a lump in the pocket of my pants. Curious, I pull out the unknown object and that's when I remember the key I pulled out from that bird. Now that I'm not faced with the threat of being swallowed alive, I can inspect it better.

The gold object turns out to be an arch of some kind. I'm not sure how else to describe because I've never seen something like it before. It's like some arched curve or something- not sure what it's used for or why it was in the back of some bird's throat but it feels like actual gold so that makes it worth something. Plus, there are some tiny blue diamond-looking gems embedded in the arch that looks like it adds to the value.

Satisfied with my inspection, I pocket the item again and continue washing.

Meanwhile, the other half of my thinking and wondering has to deal with everyone back home. I don't know how time works between dimensions, but it sounds kind of wonky seeing how a day passed here and yet it seemed only an hour or so passed back at home. Hopefully that'll spare me from explaining myself when we return home and there are Amber alerts out for us. Truthfully, I don't think my parents would suspect anything is up for a while. To them, it's probably a good day when they don't hear from us because it means neither of us got into any trouble- which relates more so to me, but hey, I can't help that trouble comes looking for me.