Six Days by Kelli Owen

Author:Kelli Owen
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-05-23T14:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Standing at the wall of dirt, Jenny paused and thought about what the best possible route would be. If she dug high, she’d be working over her head, and she was already sore. If she dug low and it caved in, she’d have that much more above her, on her, and would suffocate before she had a chance to back out. She chewed on her lip and tried to recall any knowledge she may have—any situation that might have been similar—anything that would help her out. From snow forts to sand castles, she kept returning to the same conclusion. You dug where it was softest and left the packed material for support.

She put the bone and one of the plates down on the ground to the left of the door. Lifting the other above her head, Jenny felt for the top of the dirt. Finding it, Jenny put the plate against it and pulled down toward the ground. Plenty of dirt came away freely, falling onto her and landing in her eyes and mouth. She spit out the bits of earth, blinking her eyes to keep them free of debris. It seemed the whole doorway was soft and she worried it was too soft to allow digging without a collapse and suffocation, but repeated the action to see what happened.

This time only a little dirt came away, mostly from the right side right at about waist level. That was her spot. She put the tray down and dug in with both hands, figuring it would be quicker to burrow hand over hand and use the dishes when it got more compact.

She felt the soil push its way under her nails as she forced her fingers into it. Small pebbles, sand and softer, almost silky pottery-style dirt surrounded her hands. Fistfuls of damp ground came out in a gritty cascade, covering the ground below her and burying her feet. She felt proactive, rejuvenated by the action itself.

On some level, Jenny felt like a little kid playing in the dirt, and fondly thought back to her days of backyard burrows and shoreline castles. Something about digging for discovery and building for creativity, when given nothing but the dirt in front of you, made you feel free as a kid. As a preteen, she’d taken a pottery class at the local college and felt that same freedom as the warm, wet clay ran through her fingers. Her imagination spun into reality on a wheel between them.

Of all the things she’d thought of since waking up here, this felt like the first truly pure moment. It came without guilt or worry for Alan or Dan, or even Jenny herself. It came from that secret place you hide those treasured memories, often forgetting about them for long periods of time, only to remember them because of the strangest triggers. The dirt was triggering younger, carefree days, and as much as Jenny wanted to stay there, she acknowledged the innocence of the moment fleeing, as she switched to memories of Alan playing with his cars in their sandbox.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.