Rough Hunger – How’s Hiding Spot

Welcome to the last post in this adventure!

If you missed the first three weeks, you can read them (Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3), or here’s a short recap:

You’re a scavenger in a world where food is hard to come by. One night you were drawn to a fire where four men were eating roasted rabbit. After they fell asleep, you tried to steal food from their bags but found a stone that glows blue instead. The man you stole from almost caught you but a friend, How, broke his nose by throwing a rock at him and you escaped. When How saw what you stole, he informed you its an element stone which might be able to produce fresh water.

When you tried to steal again in hopes of finding another stone or the blue stones instructions, you found the men had posted a guard and then the next day started tracking you. You and How tried to disappear into the swamps, which would have worked except How realized one of the men had food in his bag, so How tried to steal it and was seen. The men are searching for him, so you’re going to yell, “Gator!” and draw them away from your friend.

When you yelled, the men scattered and you were able to get away. Then How found you near the camp where the men stayed the night before and you found one of their packs was left behind containing their food. Readers voted to head to How’s hiding spot in hopes of getting away clean.

Let’s see how this story ends =)

Rough Hunger – How’s Hiding Spot

[image error]How’s hiding spot turns out to be a small lull in the ground that’s so overgrown with vines and bushes you have to crawl in on your hands and knees.

“Watch that.” How points with his chin and sucks his body tight to the left hand side of the foliage tunnel.

In the dusky light, you recognize the shiny three-clustered leaves on the vine he just avoided. Poison ivy.

Being bigger than How, you push harder into the foliage on the left to skirt past. Beyond, you find How laid out on his back with the foliage mere inches from his nose. Shrugging off the pack, you slide in beside him.

“Not very big, eh?”

He giggles. “Works for me.”

You lay quiet for a moment as the forest’s bugs begin to sound around you. Somewhere above, a cardinal calls and is answered. Enjoying the moment to breathe, you break out the cheese and bread and hand How chunks of both before taking some for yourself.

You nibble at the food to let your stomach adjust to it.

“My last meal was some pecans two days ago,” How says. “How about you?”

“Ants,” you answer. “I found some of those big black ants.”

How snorts, “Not very filling.”

“Not unless you spend all day at it.” You recall the moment the roasting meat smell had hit your nose from the men’s fire. Although you’d been eating ants most of the day, your stomach had instantly clenched in desire. Instead of food, though, you’d found something else.

You pull the blue element stone from your pocket. Its soft glow fills the tiny space under the foliage in aqua-green hues.

The men will continue looking for it, you’re sure. Although How’s hiding spot feels safe, it’s not, and at first light you’ll have to move.

“How do you think it works?” How asks, pointing at the stone.

“Well…”

***

A noise wakes you. The stone rests on How’s stomach from where he set it the night before while you both brainstormed how to use it. Faint sunlight now streams into the foliage, letting you know you’ve slept far too long.

The noise comes again, and then How cries out as he disappears down the vine tunnel, being pulled by his feet.

On instinct, you flee the other way, low crawling out of the deep foliage on the far side and climbing the nearest tree you come to, a black walnut. A moment later, How stops hollering and you go still.

“Ha!” Skinny chortles in excitement. “Guess the tracker’s worth his pay.”

“Where’s the other thief?” Braided Beard asks, his voice nasally from his nose being broken.

“I’ll get him,” Skinny grumbles.

“Hold up.” You peek through the walnut’s branches to see the tracker holding his hand up. He points. “There’s your water stone,” he says. “Do you want to keep tracking the thief?”

Stetson grabs the stone and makes it disappear into his pocket. “Guess not,” he says.

“But this one broke my nose!” Braided Beard says. “How about I break his in turn?”

How spins, catching Skinny by surprise enough to get to his feet but running into Stetson before he makes it more than a few steps. There’s no way How can escape with four against one, although he’s giving it a solid try.

You look around and spot the clusters of nuts still hanging on the tree. Hopefully your aim is as good as How’s was when he helped you. Grasping the walnuts, you tear them from the branch and start pitching them at Stetson, then at Skinny. Their hard shells make satisfying thuds as they connect and the men yelp in surprise.

With another handful, you pelt Braided Beard until he takes a step back and you have a moment to find more walnuts.

In that moment, there’s a soft sound and you realize the tracker’s laughing. He turns and walks away while you start pelting Stetson again. How drops suddenly and breaks the man’s hold. Instantly he’s in the trees.

It’s then the men realize their tracker wandered away.

They spin, looking to find him, and spot his retreating form.

“Hey, don’t lose him! We paid him already.”

“We’ll be lost out here!”

“Wait up!”

And then they’re gone, hurrying after their tracker.

How appears below the tree to lean against it, his shoulders shaking until he can’t contain his laughter any more and starts guffawing in delight.

You climb down to join him.

With a snort, he tries to contain himself.

“We lost the stone,” you say, still looking after the men.

“Still have some cheese and bread,” How answers. “Better off than when we started.”

“True enough,” you agree. “And just think, Skinny crawled in to haul you out. What you bet he’s going to be super itchy later from the ivy?”

You meet How’s eyes and he busts out laughing again.

The End

Whew, you survived! Thanks for joining this adventure. Next week will see the start of a brand new adventure, so stop by and join in the fun =)

Until then, blessings,

Jennifer

(For more of my stories, check out either my multi-ending Adventure book, The Adventure, or my YA Fantasy novel, Quaking Soul, here on my Website or on Amazon.)