Sunset Valley

Chapter 16.

Freya knelt down behind a berry bush. She wasn't allowed to see what was going on with everyone else ("you're too young. It'll give you nightmares until you're my age"), so she was set on finding meal duty. It was a stupid idea. An officer could easily snatch her up and use her to bribe her friends to turn themselves in. That is, of course, if she couldn't take care of herself. But Freya has been doing that for the past four years or so, and has become rather skilled at it. She probably knows more about it than Edelweiss or Jem. Torrance and Kaya, however, were questionable.

She picked a couple round, plump berries the size of golf balls and put them in the plastic bag Kaya gave her. Freya tried to listen to what they were doing. If there was something hidden from her she wanted to know about it, no matter the trouble that bound the adventure. She listened. A couple items rustling the grass. A few hushed voices. Nothing from Torrance. They must've drugged him, Freya thought, thinking of some of the berries she had seen earlier. She continued picking berries.

Time seemed to go by as fast as someone pulling a loose thread from a piece of silk, and soon Edelweiss came back into the bush where Freya sat, plastic bag overflowing with dark, round fruit. She looked exhausted, with her stringy hair escaping her ponytail and dark rosy crests underneath her eyes.

"Hey." She smiled tiredly. "I thought you'd be asleep by now."

"As if." Freya paused. "Is Torrance ok?"

"He'll survive." She yawned, her mouth stretched into a perfect pink "O".

"You should get some sleep, though. You look like you're about to pass out into a coma."

Edelweiss laughed lightly. "Alright. Torrance has a tree nearby with some blankets set up in the branches. I'll be there. You can tell which one it is because Torrance is sleeping on the bottom." She got to her feet. Her dark hair was framed in white from the starlight. "Good night, Freya."

"Night," called Freya, and lied on her back. She heard Edelweiss' footsteps die away, and she stared up at the stars. She'd ever seen so many in her life. There wasn't half this many in Afsia. It was like looking at the sun through a wholy black cover. She watched them until they began to swirl and disappear, smearing like ink after being washed over with water. She watched them until they all faded black.