Waking up.

The night before, it was so dark that we could only find the door by feeling around. Lucky for us, with a few solid hits with my shoulder, it gave way, and we were able to get in. We pushed it closed behind us, collapsed, and slept.

When I came to, all I saw was white so painful that my eyes immediately closed as tight as they could. For a moment, I thought I was being blinded by lights in a hospital or police station, but I was comforted by the scent of decaying leaves and dew. The morning calls and responses of hundreds of horny sparrows told me that I was still in the woods, and therefore still free. The floor beneath me was rough, surfaced with countless perfectly spaced linear scars filled with moisture that had long since soaked through my jeans. My back was supported by corrugated metal. My pillow had been a conveniently slanted pilon.

Better than nothing.

I opened my eyes again, blinking desperately to figure out what was so bright.

“It’s the sun.” I smiled as I held my hand in front of my face to put my eyes in shadow. “It’s the sun.”

Several of the aluminum panels that made up the walls of the big boxy building had long since been ripped away by frightening winds from long forgotten storms. Once light had invaded the edifice, all of nature was given a license to reclaim it. The concrete floor was pierced with dozens of fast-growing adolescent trees and carpeted with moss and mold. Thick sheets of vines covered the edges of the missing panels, spilling into the enormous room. The rafters were plastered in bird shit and littered with massive nests of sticks and neon yellow twine.

Wait. Where’s Riley?

My hair stood on-end. I frantically darted my head around as I slowly stood up through the aches in my muscles.

“Riley?”

No answer. I lurched forward.

“Riley!”

My voice barely filled the abandoned warehouse, leaving only a faint echo. I felt small, insignificant.

“Riley!!” I screamed.

“JaaAAAaaake!” I could hear him laughing from the other corner of the building. “JAAAAKE!”

Jerk.

I stretched my chest to its limit, filling my body with beautifully fresh air, then released it, intentionally, to keep calm. “Fuck you, Riley. I was worried,” I muttered as I straightened my shirt.

“What?!” he called out.

“Fuck you, Riley!”

“You won’t believe what I found,” he said as he walked closer. “Come with me.”