Anada

Vacationing

(The lovely fanart above was created by SandstormTheDragon )

I woke early the next morning. I had no idea what we would be doing that day. The springs in my bed creaked as I stood up. Then I stiffly walked over to the bathroom.

My bullet wound had healed overnight. There was no sign that I had ever been shot.

No one else was awake yet. I went ahead and ate some cereal then went to sit at the fire pit down by the river. I sat there and watched rays of sunlight leak into the deep valley. Everything was quiet except for the birds singing and the river swishing by.

My life was so different now compared to how I used to live it a few days before. I had joined the team, but... I felt like there was something else that I had to accomplish.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard someone come down the path. I knew it was Neil before I turned around. He looked half asleep.

"Good morning." I greeted.

"Good morning to you too. I shouldn't have stayed up last night though." He said while yawning.

"How's your arm?" I asked.

"It's a little sore, but at least it's not infected." Neil said in a glad voice.

He sat next to me, and we didn't say much. I could tell he was still trying to wake up.

"I got an email from Mr.Liam last night. The mission we finished yesterday was supposed to last a week. Mr.Liam said we can take the rest of this week off since we did so well on this mission." Neil said.

"Really?"

"Yes, that's part of the reason why we stayed up last night. We've planned out some things to do today." He said cheerfully.

"So what are we doing?" I asked while wondering what the team considered as fun.

He pulled something out of his pocket and handed me a brochure. It had various activities that you could do in the mountains. A couple of them were circled. One was a waterfall that you could slide down on and the other was ziplining.

"Wow, this is amazing." I said as I continued to look through it.

"Yeah, what we circled is what we'll try to do today." He said.

"When do we start?" I asked excitedly.

"When Westen, Reina, and Alex wake up. If they ever do wake up." He answered sarcastically.

We sat there a little longer then went inside. The others slowly got out of bed, dressed, and ate breakfast. Once they ate we gathered a couple of things then hopped in the van. Westen wanted to go ziplining first and that's what we did.

When we got to the place there weren't many people, but that was probably because it was about ten in the morning. A path led to the top of hill where we would zipline down from.

Yesterday we were in a serious mood, but not today. An adventurous excitement filled us. We all quickly made it to the top of the hill. Then we climbed a tower, that's where we harness-up.

Alex, Reina, Neil, Westen, and I stood there staring at the line that we would go down on. Someone had to go first. So I volunteered to go.

While I put on the harness I noticed we were high up in the canopy. There was a slight breeze stirring the leaves. I could see small birds hopping from limb to limb.

A man working there clipped my harness to the cable. I waved at my friends and stepped off the platform.

At first I was going slow then I went faster and faster. The wind blew my hair back behind me. It was exactly like flying except I didn't have to worry about hitting my wings against tree trunks.

The forest flew by me in a green blur. I looked down and saw many plants growing wild. I think I saw a deer, but I was going to fast to tell.

I started to slow down, and my ride stopped at a wooden deck where another man helped me. I took off my harness and gave it to the man.

One by one I watched Alex, Neil, Reina, and Westen come to a stop. Everyone of them had an excited smile plastered on their faces. They obviously had as much fun as I did.

We left and traveled to the waterfall where we would go next. When we got there, we changed into our bathing-suits.

There were many people at the waterfall. It was a good thing that there was a large area for swimming. Neil decided to not swim, because he didn't think it would be good for the fresh cuts. Instead of swimming he suntanned on a beach towel.

Reina and I ran up to the top of the water fall. I let her take the lead. Once we reached the top of the falls, she sat down on the rock then slid down into the pool below.

I let her resurface and climb out before I went.

I copied what Reina had done. I sat down then pushed against the rock behind me. The water quickly pulled me down the rock. Before I realized it I was submerged in water. Without thinking I breathed in a lung-full of water. Since I'm a water dragon, I didn't have to worry about drowning. In fact, I was more acquainted with breathing in water than I did air. The water there at the waterfall wasn't salty like the ocean, it smelled like the mountains. I loved breathing in the fresh water.

I quickly resurfaced so nobody would think that I had drowned. I then watched Westen and Alex slide down as I got out. Other people were swimming in the waterfall's pool too. So sometimes I had to swim around them in order to avoid them.

We all went down the waterfall a couple more times. Then we started playing Marco-Polo. I don't remember who wanted to play the game, but it was fun since I've only played it a few times before.

I'm not sure how long we stayed there. Reina had packed lunch and we ate there at the waterfall. Sometimes I sat and talked with Neil so he wouldn't feel left out.

Eventually we had to leave because the park was closing. The day had been a good one. Nobody got hurt and nobody was in danger.

Westen drove us back to the cabin where we changed into different clothes. Reina and I had to go out to the store again. The guys always are a lot.

Alex, Neil, and Westen decided to stay at the cabin to plan out tomorrow's events.

The clock in the van said it was 5:49pm. Wow, were we at the waterfall that long? Apparently.

Reina turned on the radio. The radio barely picked up a station because we were in a valley.

"I would love to have a new car for us to drive instead of this old clunker. Except we need it to carry all of our supplies. I hope we get a new one soon with more miles per gallon." Reina said sadly. She had a point. The van was an older model and it didn't run smooth either.

When we got to the store, Reina and I split the list of grocery items. I memorized my half of the list then went to find the items on it. I got the bread first. Then I got lost in the store trying to find the cereal.

I asked a clerk where it was and he showed me. I thanked him and walked in the direction he had pointed to.

The smell of various cereals and granola could be smelled throughout the area. I don't know if humans could smell it, but I could. Out of the corner of my eye I could see another customer at the end of the aisle.

I looked at the brands of cereal trying to remember what Alex and Westen liked most. I grabbed one of the boxes and hoped it was the one they liked. Then I noticed I had chosen the wrong one. I put it back on the shelf and reached for the box I had meant to grab.

While I checked to make sure it was the right one, the other customer walked down the aisle toward me. He was about to walk by me when I glanced up at him. He happened to glance at me too, and our eyes met and locked on each other.

I spoke barely above a whisper, "Elias?"