The Otherwoods by Justine Pucella Winans

Author:Justine Pucella Winans
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

19

The Other River

They didn’t need to travel much farther after that to reach the river, and it was a welcome sight compared with the rest of The Otherwoods. It wasn’t wide, maybe about Cursed Bridge length, but it stretched on, cutting through the ground. Some flowers grew along the edges, and unlike The City of Souls dead foliage, they were flourishing and full of life.

The dense trees still loomed behind them, but the air felt that little bit fresher, smelling more like wet rocks and maple. It was comforting, maybe even safe. It was truly like the river was untouched by the monsters and for that reason, was able to keep some of its light. It was the perfect spot to stay for the night. Or at least, as perfect as one could get outside The City of Souls.

As the world around them grew darker, and when they could no longer see beyond the top layer of trees, the gentle trickle at the river’s edge remained a calming melody. Even the bed of moss that River rested on, their backpack an unfortunate pillow, felt a little softer.

Having already drunk his fill and peed by a tree, Pancakes was stretched out near River. He was deep in sleep, whiskers and paws twitching as he ignored the world around him. River resisted the urge to pet his gray fur. It would only wake up the cat, and after what they all went through, Pancakes more than deserved a good rest.

River did too, but somehow, they were having a lot more trouble.

“Can’t sleep?” Xavier asked, voice not much above a whisper.

“No,” River said. Their voice cut through the quiet night. “You?”

“I literally can’t sleep, I’m a spirit.”

“Oh.” River glanced over at Xavier. “Sucks.”

“Yeah.”

Despite not being able to ever sleep, Xavier had made himself a nice little bed in a mossy, floral overgrowth. River thought it made him look oddly pretty, but figured that wasn’t always something a boy wanted to hear.

“Do you ever miss being alive?” Immediately after the words escaped River’s lips, they regretted them. Of course he missed being alive. That had to be as rude as asking about his death.

“Well, you know I certainly miss ice cream.”

It was a fair answer to a not totally fair question.

“Remember when you said you were chasing after someone?” River asked.

“I say a lot of things,” Xavier snapped. After a few moments of only the slow-moving water murmuring, he gave a softer, “Yeah.”

River looked back up at the sky. There were no stars in The Otherwoods. That wasn’t as unsettling as it should’ve been. Living near a city, River never saw stars anyway.

The missing moon, however, made them feel a little lonely.

It was like turning the page of a book and seeing that the next ten were blank. Something wasn’t quite right. River felt that way a lot, but it was much worse since they’d passed through that portal.

They wanted their bed, with an actual pillow. They wanted the safety of their parents in the other room.

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.