thanks might reach him telepathically. For the first time since
Felix’s ploy at the Cure ceremony I felt a twinge of hope. If a
driver wanted to rebel against the hierarchy, then who knew how
many people out there were willing to take a risk to fight the
system. Maybe if we could get enough support, we could try to break
Olympia and the reign of the Primes. Still, I knew there wasn’t
anything I could do until I finished the tasks. And the chances of
my survival were very slim.
Chapter 18
I finally managed to stop my mind from
envisaging a future rebellion, and began to evaluate my
surroundings. Trees. Felix was right. We were in a forest. I could
even hear water running somewhere near, so the first plan could
have worked out. But the driver had said to travel east, and my gut
instinct told me to trust him. I started walking to my right,
taking about five steps before stopping. I knew the basic compass
points and that, on paper, east pointed to the right. I had learnt
at least that much from my tutors, but I had no idea what direction
was east from where I was standing. I looked around for clues.
Nothing. I sat down on the forest floor, crunching the dried leaves
beneath me and looked around. I was in a clearing of some sort,
with the trees becoming denser to my left, and less dense to my
right. It would be smarter to travel away from the trees, because
the thick forest looked very dark. But I had to follow the plan. It
was my only chance at finding Felix. I was praying that he had
taken the driver’s advice to stand still. That would mean he was
waiting for me, some fifteen kilometres to the east, wherever that
was.
I tried to recall my classes, wishing I had
listened properly, but couldn’t remember anything about
interpreting directions. I wondered if maybe I should just try to
find the water, and hope that Felix would decide to follow our
original plan when I failed to show up. As I has been sitting,
struggling to decide what the best course of action would be, the
light had faded significantly, the sun lowering behind the densest
cluster of trees. I began to panic. Once it was dark I would never
find Felix. With a newfound determination, I stood up. If I was
going to die, it certainly wasn’t going to be alone.
After standing on the spot, pondering my
options for another long while, I decided to head for the water
even though that meant venturing into the thickest part of the
forest. At least if I got to a water source I would be able to
survive, and I was sure Felix would find me eventually. The trees
became denser as I followed my ears, walking towards the sound of
trickling water. Even though I was moving towards the setting sun,
the thick foliage blocked out the majority of the light. Soon I
would be completely engulfed in darkness. The sun kept sinking
lower in the sky. I had never felt very comfortable in the dark, so
I sped up, stumbling over tree roots and tripping on the uneven
ground. To calm my anxiety, I sung as I moved, humming quietly to
myself. The only song that my mother would let Louisa sing to me as
a child:
“ Go to sleep my darling,
It’s time to rest your head,
The sun is calling it a day
You too should go to bed,
The sleepy sun is sinking,
Into its bed out west,
So you should go to sleep now too
I think that would be best…”
I hummed the tune over and over, a broken
record trying to hypnotize myself into a calmed trance as I moved.
I must have been on my twentieth repeat of the verse when I reached
the word “west”. Then I stopped in my tracks. West. How could I
have been so stupid? I had been singing about directions for the
last twenty minutes. Repeating the answer to my dilemma over and
over. I looked up at the deep orange glow that seeped through the
thick canopy of leaves in front of me. I had been moving in the
direction of the sun.
I sung the song again “into its bed out
west;” if the sun was setting behind the trees, that meant that
they were to the west.
Felix’s ploy at the Cure ceremony I felt a twinge of hope. If a
driver wanted to rebel against the hierarchy, then who knew how
many people out there were willing to take a risk to fight the
system. Maybe if we could get enough support, we could try to break
Olympia and the reign of the Primes. Still, I knew there wasn’t
anything I could do until I finished the tasks. And the chances of
my survival were very slim.
Chapter 18
I finally managed to stop my mind from
envisaging a future rebellion, and began to evaluate my
surroundings. Trees. Felix was right. We were in a forest. I could
even hear water running somewhere near, so the first plan could
have worked out. But the driver had said to travel east, and my gut
instinct told me to trust him. I started walking to my right,
taking about five steps before stopping. I knew the basic compass
points and that, on paper, east pointed to the right. I had learnt
at least that much from my tutors, but I had no idea what direction
was east from where I was standing. I looked around for clues.
Nothing. I sat down on the forest floor, crunching the dried leaves
beneath me and looked around. I was in a clearing of some sort,
with the trees becoming denser to my left, and less dense to my
right. It would be smarter to travel away from the trees, because
the thick forest looked very dark. But I had to follow the plan. It
was my only chance at finding Felix. I was praying that he had
taken the driver’s advice to stand still. That would mean he was
waiting for me, some fifteen kilometres to the east, wherever that
was.
I tried to recall my classes, wishing I had
listened properly, but couldn’t remember anything about
interpreting directions. I wondered if maybe I should just try to
find the water, and hope that Felix would decide to follow our
original plan when I failed to show up. As I has been sitting,
struggling to decide what the best course of action would be, the
light had faded significantly, the sun lowering behind the densest
cluster of trees. I began to panic. Once it was dark I would never
find Felix. With a newfound determination, I stood up. If I was
going to die, it certainly wasn’t going to be alone.
After standing on the spot, pondering my
options for another long while, I decided to head for the water
even though that meant venturing into the thickest part of the
forest. At least if I got to a water source I would be able to
survive, and I was sure Felix would find me eventually. The trees
became denser as I followed my ears, walking towards the sound of
trickling water. Even though I was moving towards the setting sun,
the thick foliage blocked out the majority of the light. Soon I
would be completely engulfed in darkness. The sun kept sinking
lower in the sky. I had never felt very comfortable in the dark, so
I sped up, stumbling over tree roots and tripping on the uneven
ground. To calm my anxiety, I sung as I moved, humming quietly to
myself. The only song that my mother would let Louisa sing to me as
a child:
“ Go to sleep my darling,
It’s time to rest your head,
The sun is calling it a day
You too should go to bed,
The sleepy sun is sinking,
Into its bed out west,
So you should go to sleep now too
I think that would be best…”
I hummed the tune over and over, a broken
record trying to hypnotize myself into a calmed trance as I moved.
I must have been on my twentieth repeat of the verse when I reached
the word “west”. Then I stopped in my tracks. West. How could I
have been so stupid? I had been singing about directions for the
last twenty minutes. Repeating the answer to my dilemma over and
over. I looked up at the deep orange glow that seeped through the
thick canopy of leaves in front of me. I had been moving in the
direction of the sun.
I sung the song again “into its bed out
west;” if the sun was setting behind the trees, that meant that
they were to the west.
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