Escaping the Lost Island (working title)

Chapter 13

Rita and I worked until nearly sundown. By the time we were finished, I couldn't see my skin through the dirt on my hands and I had a feeling my sweaty face didn't look much better.

"Why don't we bring these to the cave before we go back to camp," Rita suggested.

I looked around me at the piles of burgundy roots. "That's probably a good idea. And let's take a dip in the water while we're at it or we might scare the others."

She laughed. "You blend into the ground."

I grinned. "You're worse."

To my complete surprise, Rita flung a handful of dirt at me, still laughing. I started laughing too and threw my own clump of dirt. Then the two of us were flinging earth at each other as fast as we could get a grip on it. Soon we were both utterly unrecognizable and laughing too hard to speak.

"Come on," I gasped at last. "Let's get these roots to the cave."

Rita nodded, still laughing.

We each gathered an armful of roots and set off, still giggling. The roots were thick and dense and by the time we reached the cave on the opposite side of the island, our laughter had turned into panting.

"Time for a rinse I think," Rita puffed after she had unloaded her roots safely onto the beach.

I nodded, completely winded.

We waded into the ocean. A sigh of pleasure escaped my lips as I felt the cold water against my grimy skin. I eased my entire body into the water and used my hands to scrub the layers of dirt off myself. It felt impossibly good.

Rita was in a similar state of bliss beside me. When we had both returned to our natural skin colors, we reluctantly got out of the water.

"Well, I'd call it a pretty productive day," I said as we began the walk back to camp.

Rita nodded. "Yes, I think so too."

I was amazed at how relaxed I felt. Like the weight of the world didn't rest solely on my shoulders. It was refreshing, like waking up from a long nap.

I looked over at Rita. I liked who I was around her. She was just the kind of person who brought out the best in people, and I hadn't realized how much I had needed that kind of friend.

It was as though she had been reading my thoughts because after a moment, Rita said "I'm glad that I met you, Meg."

"Me too," I said. "I mean I'm glad that I met you too. Not glad that I met me..."

She laughed. "Yes, I know what you mean."

"You're really easy to talk to, you know that?" I said. "Like at first I didn't really know what to think of you when you showed up with Toby, but now I feel like I've known you for a long time."

Rita nodded. "We have a lot more in common than I expected," she said. "But I guess that makes sense."

"How so?"

She shrugged. "Even though our lives have been incredibly different, we have similar basic values."

"Yeah that makes a lot of sense," I said. "I mean, our values define how we live and try to think."

"Exactly," Rita said. "Even if you come from different worlds entirely."

That was a mind boggling idea. What if someone who lived in Asia or Africa or something was having the same thoughts as me and wondering if there was someone else in the world thinking the same thing? If only telepathy was a real thing. I could send someone a message that we needed help.

When we reached the cove several minutes later, the others had already gone to bed. The sand muffled our footsteps as we picked our way over to the girls' side of the clearing. Exhausted, I crumpled onto my mat.

"Goodnight, Meg," I heard Rita murmur.

"G'night," I mumbled back before sleep claimed me.