On the day martial law is announced and put into effect, the whole city of Nova Aria is on fire.
Lou is stuck on her way home from work. She calls Robert, her distant ex-boyfriend for help, right before a bus crashes into her car. Little does Lou k...
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No dog would be able to track us now.
The thought came to me as I waded through the sparkling, freezing water. The island's warm winds never stopped ruffling my hair. Small, slippery stones dug into my bare feet, making it nearly impossible to move in any direction.
I readjusted my shoes, which dangled like two dead crows on my shoulders, for the umpteenth time-a ritual I had newly adopted-before glancing at Dad and Vince. They looked rightfully exhausted but pushed on without complaints.
"You got it, Lou." Robert squeezed my hand. "Slow and steady...I got you."
My teeth chattered in response. Without him, I would have fallen into the water so many times. I was not good at this at all.
By now, I had come to make peace with the fact that I needed him. We all needed him in some way. Robert's fate continued to intertwine with ours, frustratingly, like his cool and dry hand with my clammy one.
Robert's glasses glimmered in the moonlight, giving me a strange thought: What would happen if I ripped them off his nose? Would he be mad? Would I see his eyes better?
Charlie screamed back at us, interrupting my conversation with myself. "This is not the best, folks...But trust me... It could be a lot worse!"
I disagreed, but the city girl in me was busy being speechless due to the cold, exhaustion, and hunger.
Especially hunger.
Not too far away, the giant column of water-straight from God's faucet it seemed-hammered down into the misty lake we were crossing. The waterfall was majestic, but all I could think about was long, warm, shiny, stretchy taffy. I had seen the process on a trip with Mom and Vince. Dad, of course, couldn't make it that time...
Charlie changed his direction all of a sudden. The old man headed straight to a huge mossy boulder sitting directly by the waterfall's side and touched around the rock as if he were searching for something. Charlie then got a good grip and pulled himself upon it.
The image was quite bizarre. The old man balanced skillfully like a lizard on the narrow edge made entirely of small, ragged stones. He inched his way across the boulder with his face pressed to its wet surface. Before our eyes, Charlie disappeared into the waterfall.
My eyes opened as wide as my mouth. I tried my best to wrap my head around the sorcery that had just happened.
"Come on!" Charlie's head popped out again. "Hurry up! What are you guys waiting for?"
I closed my mouth and waded forward.
As it turned out, on the other side, the boulder split open, enough for us to get through one by one. The sizeable crack hid right under the impressive stream of water, hence the special effect of Charlie disappearing. How the boulder remained in one piece was a miracle of its own.
