I'm On My Way

Chapter 4

The sadness. The depression that haunted his face sapped all the happiness from him. Maddy could read his life from his downcast face, like the dusty cover of a horror story. He was staring out the window, but Maddy couldn't manage to inspect the area around him; all she could focus on was him. The sky blue eyes she had loved, and missed, so much were replaced by faded blue ones, old photos of the happy sparkling eyes she had once known.
"He misses me!" A small, excited voice in her head called out. The thumping of her heart grew as her hope was restored. She had been worrying so much about whether they all missed her, and this seemed to be proof that he did.
Maddy's face contorted into a frown; she should have felt happy. And yet, seeing Rhydian like this, made her feel...
A groan escaped her chapped lips. She knew this would happen. The image was still clear in her head, and now that she had seen him so sad, she wanted to go and comfort him. This was why she hasn't wanted to use Eolas. It would just make her want to go back.
She threw her head backwards in annoyance, eye trailing up to the sky, when she banged it against the tree trunk. Rubbing her head, an ow escaped her curved mouth as the pain intensified.
"Yeah, there's a tree there."
Maddy jumped, and the pain disappeared as one thought entered her mind.
That was something Rhydian would say.

Her eyes frantically searched their surroundings for the speaker of the words which sounded so much like...him. It sounded like him too...
This time she burrowed her head in her knees, forming a barrier of chocolate hair around her crying eyes.
Great. So now she was imagining him.
Well, surely that has nothing to do with the Eolas visit? She tried to convince herself. She stood up and gave a defiant nod. She would go back. She would emerge from the wild and go back to her pack again. She and Rhydian could be together again.
To her relief, the pack was fast asleep when she returned. A quick glance round at the sleeping bodies soothed her nerves. The soft snoring covered her footsteps on the ground, and soon she was creeping past her parents, towards the small bundle of clothes and possessions she had. Scooping them up with one hand and throwing them in her little pack, she carefully trod her way through the camp towards the surrounding trees. She trusted the forest; once she was hidden by their protecting arms, she could find out which way to go.
The abandoned twigs snapped under her feet as she wove through the trunks of the trees, the camp site soon disappearing behind a wallpaper of green.
It was only when Maddy let out a long sigh that she realised how nervous she had been. It was only when she thought she had got free that she let out a relieved laugh, which was free to roam the forest. It was only when she paid attention to what she was doing that she realised the danger.