hope your life leads you back to my door » l.s.

three: whispers songs

The wake-up call was early the next day — six in the morning to be exact. Zoya was moaning and groaning the entire time they got dressed and packed up their stuff. Harry felt groggy as well, having stayed up a bit to revise, but he was excited to get going. They met with their trekking group out in front of the resort and stood with Louis and Liam. Liam looked the same as Zoya — extremely tired and irritated to have been woken up, but Louis looked to be awake and alert. After Cal went through the day's agenda with them one more time, they all headed over to breakfast. The four of them ended up joining Finn and Aria at their table.

"How was you guys' night?" Finn asked them as he dug into his scrambled eggs.

"It was good," Louis replied brightly. "We explored the village. Caught some sick views and the food here is really good."

"What about you guys?" Liam asked them, looking like he was on the verge of passing out over his breakfast. He was struggling to keep his eyes open while trying to eat his oatmeal.

"We rested for a while and then ventured out sometime at night," Aria replied. "We had dinner at the resort, though. That train ride really did us in, especially with all the drinking."

"Plus, we needed our beauty sleep," Finn quipped.

"But you're already so gorg, babe," Louis doled out, looking as cheesy as his line.

Harry almost gagged. Some of the shit the two of them spouted off to each other made him want to throw up. He had no idea why he found them so irritating. He tuned out their conversation and focused on finishing up his breakfast.

After eating, the group began their trek. Cal was not kidding when he said that trekking would be difficult for beginners. But if Harry was anything, he was determined. He took on this challenge with his head held high, despite the fact that his legs felt like they were going to detach from his body. Energised from breakfast, they started off moving quickly before slowing down as the sun truly started to come up and the heat beat down on them. It was worth it for the views, though.

The hiking route had started in Els Plans, which was in the parish of Canillo, the small mountain village they'd be stopping at later that night. The path after that was led by dry stone walls that passed over the River Forat de Rius and gained height while going into the forest of the Riu Valley. The forest was full of mountain pines, aspens, and salanques, all of which provided cherished shade from the sun when the group took a break. After getting through the forest, they continued climbing north toward the Cabin of the Riu Valley, which was a mountain hut that could only hold about eight of them at a time.

It was there that they ended up stopping to take lunch, which was mainly sandwiches and fruit, before continuing. Soon after, they reached the first lake and then another before hitting the small mountain pass that led to the Great Lake of the Val de Riu. The Val de Riu valley had the largest pond in all of Andorra, or estany gran, as the Spaniards called it. The pond extended about four hectares and was encircled by glacial-formed mountains. It was absolutely breathtaking from the top view they had, leaving Harry speechless for a long time. What made it difficult, however, was the 450 meters ascent.

It was on the descent down toward Canillo that Harry found a wishing well. He stared down at it curiously, sipping from his water bottle and trying to cool down. He wondered if these things actually worked. There had to be a reason why they were called wishing wells. Placing his water bottle down on the ledge of the well, he fished out a coin from his bag and enclosed it in his palm before closing his eyes. Quickly, he wished for several things at once — good grades, a successful future, his parents' well-being, and a nice lad to fall in love with. Without opening his eyes, he dropped the coin into the well.