Sunset Valley

Chapter 4.

He pulled me along until we got to his house, then he sat me down at his kitchen table and opened a box of fig newtons. He set one on the table in front of me and stuffed one in his mouth.

"Ignore them," he said with his mouth open. I tried to ignore the chewed up cookie as he stuffed another in his mouth. "They're just afraid to discover the unknown. But the unknown" -he paused to chew a little- "is not something to fear." I nodded and ate my cookie. I could see why Jem liked it. It was naturally tasty. "Jem," I asked. "What are you afraid of?" He chewed some more, thinking, and swallowed. Then he shrugged. I predicted he would say, "not sure" in his tone he had when he didn't understand a math problem. But instead he said, "I haven't figured it out yet".

~~~

After Jem walked me home, I did my homework and went to bed, full on fig newtons. I drifted to sleep, and waited for morning.

Before the sun had begun to rise, the phone shrieked loudly. Of course, it woke me up. I moaned, and waited for it to shut up. My hand pulled back the bed head of dark hair I have, keeping it out of my face. I waited, but the phone would not be silent. It must've been urgent. Slowly, drowsily I got out of bed and picked it up.

"Who are you and why are you calling me at three AM?" Replaced my hello.

"Edel!" Jem sounded overly excited and awake this early. "Quickly! I found-" "Jem, what the H are you doing? It's too early for this! My family is probably-" "Please it's really important!" I leaned on my dresser and closed my eyes, resting the phone on my shoulder. "Fine. What do you want?" "Okay so I was searching online and I found the perfect boat to sail to Sunset Valley. Check your computer now I sent you a link. It's really cheap, too! It will only cost a months worth of both our allowances!"

I hung up and made my way to the old computer I owned, my eyes half open. The thing was a dinosaur, so I got a cup of hot chocolate to wake myself up as it started up. When I clicked the link, I couldn't help but leave my mouth hanging open. Jem was right. The ship was perfect.