Island Rush (10 page)

“You need to distract me,” I said, not bothering to look up from the ground.

It sounded like he was trying to laugh but only started to cough. I looked up, worried. He sighed and said, “You distract me, and I will do the same for you.”

I racked my brain. “Why did you pick to teach?” I had nothing else at the time to ask. I did always kind of want to know, though.

“I like the idea of gaining as much knowledge as one can. I like the feeling that I’m helping or guiding students to meet a good future.”

“I guess it isn’t because you like kids?”

He was silent for a minute. “Is that how it seems? That I am a mean and strict teacher who loathes kids?”

I recalled what I could of his class.  “Well, yeah,” I said.  “You were nice to us I guess.  You just never came across as someone who actually enjoys interacting with students.”

“Well, that is different. I come across sometimes as a strict ass so they don’t think they can walk all over me. Plus, I admit, I don’t like some of the kids.”

I snorted at his words. “Why?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I like most students.  Some are real slackers. They are selfish because they only care about what is easy and fun for them.  They don’t care about what will help their lives and the future for everyone else. I understand having fun as a kid.  But they are in high school.  They should at least be mature and know that the future matters.”

I dragged my feet through the tall grass. A couple of roots snaked up from the ground as we stepped over them. I hid my shame at his words by concentrating on my steps so he wouldn’t see my face. “What do you mean everyone’s future?”

“Those kids, they are our future after we are gone. They will be the ones to run the world.”

“And I’m sure I’m one of those students.” I looked up and smirked at him, showing I didn’t care what he thought.  In reality, it made my stomach twist. 

He remained serious though and shook his head. “No, not at first. I remember at the beginning of the year, you got your work done and even respected me. Then you changed. Rapidly. You turned into one of those slackers and didn’t seem to care about anything, including your future. I didn’t feel sorry for you either. You made that your choice.” He was talking about my rapid change from my mother being alive to when I learned she died.  It made me see that my future was as good as gone.

I didn’t know how to respond. Either way, he wasn’t done. “There was something different, though. Everyone else, all the other losers, they started out that way. I saw your intentions of a bright future. Then, you changed so suddenly. I was curious as to why and wasn’t sure if it was as simple as not caring. You didn’t seem like that person,” he said in a thoughtful voice. Watching him intently as we walked, I noticed him lick his lips as he continued. “When I saw those messages, I knew your life at home wasn’t good and that could have affected it.”

I couldn’t believe how much he was revealing to me. I was quite shocked at his accuracy. “Or maybe I just decided I wanted to give you a hard time,” I said in a joking manner.

“No. You aren’t that kind of person,” he said. “You’re hiding the reason from me. Something happened to you, and it changed you. Before you told me that you didn’t care about your future, I didn’t believe that.”  It sounded as if he was catching on.

I scoffed, too quickly saying, “I think you are overthinking things.”

He knew he guessed right. However, he also must have heard the note in my voice that told him I really didn’t want to talk about this because he remained silent.  Before he decided to speak up, I jumped in and asked something that was related to this. Not to mention, I was curious. “And what was with all those looks you gave me? Were you really that curious?” I knew this was a subject that would distract him.

He answered me in a quiet voice. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” A glance at his face said he knew what I meant, but I let it go as he did a few seconds ago for me.

We continued on in silence again. The reason for those questions came back and so did the slimy feeling of sweat on my body. My mind returned to the emptiness of my stomach and the feeling of my dry mouth. If we didn’t find anything today, we would be in bad shape by tomorrow.

Chapter 8

Nothing seemed to change. It was as we were walking in circles.  Maybe, we were. The trees were tiring to see. The sky, the grass, and everything in between were the same. There was no telling where we were. All we knew was that we had to keep going, keep walking, and keep hoping that this island wasn’t as big as we thought.

We started stumbling more as the day progressed. We were getting tired, but it was essential to continue on in the shade of the trees. No matter what we were thinking about, we were both too exhausted to keep up the conversation for long.

When I saw Mr. Rush stop beside me, I turned and noticed his eyebrows were dipped deep in thought. He looked up to me and spoke.  “If we keep walking straight, we should eventually hit the ocean, but not the lake. I think it’s clear with how long we have been walking that we aren’t going the way we figured.”

“What are you saying?”

“We should keep going straight. There is no guarantee we will find the lake but the ocean? We will eventually run into it.”

I thought about it, and he was right. The ocean surrounded this island and sooner or later, we would find it. The question is, how big was this island? How much farther would we have to go? A thought popped into my head that questioned his idea.  “That won’t help. We can’t drink salt water.”

“Technically, you’re right. There is a way to make it so we can safely drink it. I doubt it would do much anyway, but we can figure it out when we get there.” Mr. Rush paused as he began swaying on his feet slightly. He leaned against a nearby tree before he continued. “More importantly, if we find the ocean, we can find the creek.  I know the creek we found hit the ocean eventually.”

“Do you know how long that could take?” Considering we had no idea how much longer it would take to reach the ocean, we could be cutting it close. Because if we make it to the ocean, who knows how far down the beach that stream is. 

He understood this too. “I have no idea. I just know we
will
hit it. That needs to be our new focus.”

This new plan in action wasn’t going to erase what he told me earlier.  “You said we needed water by the end of the day, or it would get bad for us.”

We continued breathing hard between our words.  Just talking back and forth was claiming a lot of energy.  “We will be fine,” was the only answer he offered. It wasn’t too reassuring, but his voice was genuine.

With that, we started walking again under the blazing sun. Our feet were on autopilot and, though we were dizzy at times and tired, we pressed on. As the day drifted closer to night, I didn’t want to move anymore. I just wanted to rest and so did Mr. Rush. He was panting as hard as I was.

I played my card. “We should rest. Build up our strength for tomorrow.”

He didn’t stop, knowing if he did, we might not be able to keep going. He shook his head after a minute as we climbed over more roots. “I know we want to stop, but we can’t.”

I didn’t say anything to that.  Instead, I raised an eyebrow at him. With the cold setting in as a reminder of the night coming, I started to watch Mr. Rush more carefully.  I could see he looked ready to stop despite his words.  He looked tired, and I noticed that his eyes were more unfocused.  It made me nervous.  It was obvious we wouldn’t find water tonight. So, what do we do? Do we stop or move ahead? Would it really hurt to rest for the night?

I wasn’t sure, but I was at the point of breathing hard and having a dry mouth from all the walking.  My lungs ached and so did my stomach for food. I felt as if I would throw up but what could come up? At last, I said, “We need to stop. We know we won’t get anywhere tonight or find water.  All we can do is rest.”

He was clearly not in the best shape either.  I didn’t realize the extent until now.  The moment his feet stopped at my request, his knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground. I stumbled over to him and fell on my knees beside him. It seemed as if in a matter of moments he changed.  Because taking him in now, I saw that his face was pale, and he was slightly shaking. He also surprised me when his eyes grew wide as he swept them over my body.

“Your face. You’re so pale.” He looked down at my hand that rested on his trembling arm. “You’re shaking too.”

I looked down and expected it to be him that was shaking.  The thing was, we both were. When I started to glance back up to his face, my eyes went their own way again, and my vision became blurry. I felt him grab my shoulder to keep me up, but it was too late. 

I felt the cool grass against my cheek a second later.  I closed my eyes, waiting to go under.  Then I felt my shoulder being shaken. “Come on, get up.”

I reluctantly opened my eyes and saw that I could see better again. I was on my stomach, my head turned and staring at Mr. Rush, who was on his back.  His gaze was on me with worry. He tried shaking me more, but I felt too weak.  His own eyes were fighting the need to stay focused on me.  Those beautiful and tired eyes were the last sights I took in before slipping under.

When I woke, it was with the grass tickling my face.  Little slits of light shined through the trees as the sun started rising. It was still a little chilly in the air, but that wasn’t what relieved me. It was my body that was slightly damp, and I didn’t feel nearly as exhausted.

I lifted my pounding head and saw I hadn’t moved from where I was when I blacked out. Beside me, Mr. Rush still laid on his back, his eyes shut and head turned facing me. His hand was still on my shoulder from where he was trying to shake me out of my exhausted state. He had been in the same condition and must have passed out just after me.

The locks of hair on his head were tangled in the strands of grass. His hair was damp like my cheeks were and I noticed why too. No matter how badly my head hurt, my throat burned, or my stomach turned, I knew what we had to do when I took in my surroundings.

I sat up, turned, and threw my hands on his shoulders and started shaking him. His skin was smooth and slightly cool as my eyes searched his face. His peaceful and closed eyes, his gentle breathing… He looked perfect yet human.  It was a nice sight.

I shoved my thoughts away for a scolding later and shook him until his eyes flew open in surprise. I was on my knees at his side, looking down at the shocked man. He stared at me and his breathing hitched slightly. I stammered out my thoughts. “Water. We can drink. It isn’t much, but it will be gone soon!”

His expression didn’t change, and I saw a familiar look cross him — the one he would sometimes give me randomly, the one that would make any girl blush and make me look away before he saw it. There was a sweet light in his deep eyes. I was waiting for him to register what I was saying but all he did was stare at me.

“The dew on the grass! That can at least buy us some time,” I continued, distressed he wasn’t reacting to my words.  Yet still, he stayed in his position, looking up at me from where he was laying. I realized I still had my hands resting on his shoulders too.

Before I could back off, he caught me off guard by whispering, “Why do you do this to me?”

“Do what?” Was he still not feeling good?  Was he hallucinating now? I guess it would make sense since we were so thirsty and hungry.

He finally broke his open stare.  He shook his head and started to stammer. “For…” he struggled, and I realized it might be an excuse. He was taking too long. “For waking me,” he said, averting his eyes.

I let it go and backed away as my earlier words sank into his head. He looked confused then spoke. “Wait, what?” He turned his head and rested his cheek on the grass, letting the dew caress his face. He smiled and looked back at me before he turned over on his stomach.  It was a beautiful sight as he started to suck the moisture off the green blades. I was down on my stomach in a second too, letting my mouth consume every small drop on the grass now that he was up and doing it too.

My cheeks brushing the wet grass as I sucked, it felt amazing. It was the best thing I could have imagined. Even with the earthy taste, it didn’t matter. I welcomed the cold air and cherished the time I had with it before it would be gone at the arrival of the blazing heat. It made the hairs on my arms stand on end from the chilly feeling that ran through me.

My mouth ran over the blades and without realizing it, I used my knees and elbows to crawl ahead, keeping my head down. My mouth plunged into the damp grass, and I sucked in as much as I could.

Yet, not enough filled my mouth. Even though it felt amazing, I did become frustrated. I noted right away that there was not enough. Not enough dew on the grass to satisfy what we craved.  I sucked as hard as I could and still, the dew was more like a mist.  I’ve been so thirsty, though, it really didn’t matter. This was heaven compared to the burn yesterday. It all felt so good, not just drinking up what I could, but the feeling it gave my body.

As I took in what I could, the front of me grazed back and forth on the grass. I pulled my head back and started to roll, covering my whole body as best as I could with the dew. I smiled as I whipped my tongue for more and heard myself laughing in delight.

I glanced over to Mr. Rush, who had his eyes closed in pleasure, crawling through the grass as I had, his face never lifting. His mouth pulled in what water it could. He must have noticed the lack of water too because he was more frantic, desperate for water.

I lifted my head fully and stared at him. Watching his mouth move, his lips open and his tongue flashing. I will admit, it left me with more than the hunger for food. His mouth was sucking the cool liquid away, his eyes shut tight. All that was racing through my head was the thought of that mouth gliding over me like that.

I felt instant shame, being jealous of fucking grass!

I took the advantage of his closed eyes to compose my expression. I buried my face back into the grass and moved ahead, aware of the slowly rising sun. When I felt my whole body completely damp, I brought my arm to my mouth and sucked away what I caught. I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of this as a possibility for water.

I sucked in as much as I could in the tall grass like he did  It lasted for a good while, and I felt very lucky that I woke early enough to catch it. Of course, I knew it would have to end. As the sun grew higher and the dew slowly disappeared, the heat set in and heaven started to fade away. At least, I still had the comfort of my damp clothes.

By the time the dew was gone and we got all we could, I flipped on my back and stayed lying in the grass. I wasn’t satisfied with my thirst, and I assumed that later, my throat would be back to its greedy state.  At least, it was still kind of cool.  It felt good just to relax for a while like this before walking.

Mr. Rush confirmed my fears after a while from where he was beside me. He stood up and glanced down to where I was lying. “This will only give us more time. We still need to get to the ocean as fast as we can.”

I nodded and reluctantly stood up with him. Well, we at least knew we would be alive at the end of the day, right? It had to be a couple hours since we started sucking on the grass yet it only seemed to be a few minutes. I already missed the taste.

We ended up walking soon after that. We headed in the direction we were going yesterday and could only hope we would reach the ocean before another word of drinking piss came up again.