Escaped the Night (42 page)

The guys
made the ground appear
s
o com
fortable. I looked over and watched
the unicorns for
a moment as t
hey strolled nearby, feasting on
the
lush
greens. They seemed so peac
eful and content. If danger was anywhere
near
us
, I didn’t think they
’d
remain
quite
so relaxed.

I
couldn’t put my mind
at ease
with so many doubts racing
through
it.
I just wasn’t
sure it was safe to rest here.
It was the middle of the night and
we were
in a clearing with
very
little protection
. After all,
this was
a vast forest where
anything could
sneak
up
from behind or even come
at us
head on. We were open
on
all sides. Thick trees surrounded
the
entire
area, yet we stopped in
a
clearing
. Why did the unicorns
de
cide
to
rest here
,
of all places? I
understood
that
we were in a desperate situation, but seriously
,
w
ere
grass and wildflowers the only protection we could muster?

My body was
suddenly so fatigued
that
it felt like I was carry
ing the world on my shoulders. The weight of all the stress pushing against me
made
me want to hit the ground
.
I couldn’t li
f
t my arms or move my legs and
I
didn’t have
any
strength
left to fight with myself over
my
doubts.
My body was
completely
exhausted
.
Come what may
,
because t
here was
no way I was going any further tonight.
I
silently
fell
to my knees and
then laid down in the tall gr
eens
.

The
smell
of the flowers
was magnificent.
The aroma of lilies, poppies and daisies
,
the sound
of the grasses
whistling as the
y
moved gently back and forth,
and
the
light
breeze
rus
ting the leaves of the trees,
was
my
perfect
lu
llaby. I rested my
head
near
a small patch of
clover
. I
hoped
there was
a four-leafed
one
somewhere in the patch because I
was bet
ting on its luck.
We needed
some good
luck to keep us safe tonight.

I
gazed
up at the sky. The stars sparkled just as they did every night.
They were happy and in love.
Was I ever going to get to go to the stars? I
thoug
ht before drifting
off to sleep.

The morning sun woke me as it shone down brightly
upon us. Another beautiful
day had arrived. There
wasn’t
a cloud to be seen in the bright blue sky. Birds chirped happy songs in the distance.

I
sat up and
took not
ice of the tiny patch of clover
. Sure enough
,
right in the cent
e
r
re
sted a lone four-leafed clover.
I’d placed my bet right. We’d made it safely th
r
ough the entire night.
As I sat there contemplating
whether or not I should pick it and keep
it with me, one of the unicorns placed her shiny white head down and began n
ibbling. I watched as she ate my
clover.

“
Oh, well, t
here goes my luck,
”
I laughed.

Kaleb and Kael were
also
awake and sitting up in the tall grass.

“You?
Luck? Now
that’s a funny one,
” Kael said
, letting
out his
boisterous laugh.

“Shut up
, Kael,
” I
retorted
. It was too early t
o deal with his ridiculing. I’
d just opened my eyes. I needed a few more minutes
to find the inner
strength that
enabled me to
ignore his wise cracks. Right no
w, his comments penetrated
straight through me. I
already
knew that I was the un
luckiest person, probably
the unluckiest one
on the
entire planet. If something stood
the chance of going wrong, it most l
ikely would if I was involved.
I didn’t need a b
ig oaf to tell me about it. I
liv
ed it. I knew the outcome, but t
hings were going to change. It was my time to shine.

I got my bearings and decided
I was now civilized enough to deal with the
guys
,
so
I
got up and
moved
closer. I stood above them and shook my head
as the
two muscle heads
wrestled on the ground
,
taking
turns jabbing
one
an
other in the stomach. They laughed
out loud
as they pretended
to
meet the blows
.

I was grateful
Kaleb and Kael
had bonded so closely. Kael would
never replace
Garrison
, but
was the perfect person to fill the void
he
left behi
nd.
All his joking
around
was good
for Kaleb.
I found his jokes
quite a
nnoying first thing in the morning
,
but
I
was a
lso
always
crank
y
when I first woke up.
All
in all,
it was a good thing he was
with us
. Kael
was a part of our
family now.

My stomach interrupted playtime
as it let out a loud grumble
.
They stopped and looked up. “Wow, sorry
guys
, but
I’m
totally
starving. We need a plan. Where are we going?”

“You could always go home,
” Kaleb suggested.

Home? I couldn’t think of any other place I’d rather be.
“You may be onto something there
,
Kaleb.” I reached in
to
my pocket and pulled out my cell phone.
No service. It really hadn’t surprised me
because we
were
standing
in the middle of a forest.

The boys started getting up, making it
clear that
we were going to start hiking. One problem, which way was home?
I was
totally confused as to where we were.

‘We’ll lead you out safely before we part ways
.
’
The larger unicorn informed
me
as s
he gracefully began heading back into
the
thick
trees.

“Thank you.”
I took a
last glance around
.
Stunning p
ink,
red,
purple, orange and even tiny white flowers covered most of the
clearing
. Patches of clover
appeared
scattered
all over. Small bushes and
wild
ferns filled the open gaps betwe
en the trees.

The tranquility
must have appealed to all of us.
I
ts magnificence matched
the beauty of the unicorns; perhaps this was why they
’d
stopped
in the first place.
I turned my head
away from the beautiful clearing. I would always keep its picture
fresh in my mind.
It would be
my tranquility place
for
when
ever
I needed somewhere peaceful to go. No matter how bad things got, I’d always feel better
coming
back here
, even if it was
just
in my mind
.

The
five of us made our way
with the unicorns
taking the lead
.
The
forest was full of bright greens, deep an
d dark
greens
, accompanied with gentle nature sounds,
creating a
n utterly
peaceful
seren
ity
.
The sun was
bright and
warm as it cut through the trees
,
casting away
the
lurking shadows. Everything seem
ed
better
today, mostly
because w
e no longer had the threat of running into
any
nightwalkers.

Thoughts of
Jayce lingered in my mind
. I daydreamed about the two of us,
lying in the beautiful green ferns,
sharing
our electrifying kisses amongst the
sweet smelling
wildflowers. I missed him more and more as every second passed.

Loyal Kaleb came over
and placed
his arm around
me
.
I felt so badly that he was burdened with my
pain. “I’m sorry,
” I whispered so the others coul
dn’t hear.

He didn’t say anything. He just
squeezed a little bit harder and I knew
t
hat he was with me no matter the outcome
.

Kael looked back
.
“Wha
t’s going on
here?” h
e asked
.
“Am I missing something?”

“Nope, nothing at all
,
Kael. Kaleb was just keeping me company for a while.” I let go of Kaleb so he could catch back up with his buddy.

Kael and Kaleb
raced
ahead of us, roughhousing
their way through the t
hick bush. With the ruckus they made
,
I doubted
anything would
be
brave enough to come within two hu
ndred yards of us.

The unicorns steadil
y led us in the direction we needed
to go.
I positioned myself
so I could
walk
between them. I was still c
ompletely amazed by their sheer beauty.
Unicorns
had
always
been
chalked up
as
nothing more th
an a myth, but t
h
ese two were
living
proof
. T
hey
gave
me a new sense of hope knowing that t
here was good
ness left in the immortal world; i
t was
just
hidden
.
However, having
this kind of goodness
on our side made anything
possible.