Will Rise from Ashes by Jean M. Grant

Author:Jean M. Grant [Grant, Jean M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: widow, autism, Yellowstone, volcano, supervolcano, natural disaster, redemption, grief, healing, hope, mother, faith, journey, cross-country, anxiety,
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2019-02-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Search and Rescue

Will ran.

He ran like somebody was chasing him. That old meanie coming after him made his legs move faster.

Mom said run. So he did. He ran faster than he did in gym class (which wasn’t fast compared to the other kids). Faster than when he played with Finn in blaster and wizard battles. Faster than playing zombie tag in karate class. He was adept at ducking behind the weighted dummy so nobody ever caught him. Faster than the time when he was worried that he couldn’t find Mom outside. He was a sneaky hider. He’d find a place to hide until it was safe. One time he was watching the weather forecast and there had been a tornado watch, so he hid under the basement steps. Dad was mad. Well, only a little.

A scream rang behind him like a fire engine’s blaring horn. It was that old lady. Her screech bounced off all the trees and boulders. The tiny hairs on his neck rose, and a rush of cold fear ran through him. That old man moaned and growled like a bear. He ran faster. Were they chasing him now?

They were mean bullies. They had tried to steal from them, and they’d hurt Mom. He stopped for the briefest second. Maybe he should go back to check on her. He clutched Douglas tighter to his chest. No, she’d said run.

His heartbeat pounded so loudly in his head, his hearing grew fuzzy. He hated it when that happened. The campground hummed with noises. The buzzes took over. People talking, shouting, moving. Clanging, scraping, chatter. All the noises and movements around him blurred like he was on a merry-go-round. He covered his ears and ran on.

He made it to the Greer Spring trailhead in forty-three seconds. He had already memorized the trail map, so he turned onto the trail, following the faded blazes. It was almost a mile to the spring, and the path descended fast. He would hide there. That was far enough away. The bullies wouldn’t follow him there.

He went into stealth mode, humming to himself. If he hummed, he couldn’t hear all the other noises. He slowed his pace as the trail sloped toward the river and it grew darker under the thick canopy of trees. It wasn’t as steep as the hike they had taken to Crater Lake on their vacation. Now that had been a steep trail! It had been fun. He and Finn had run all the way, zigzagging on the switchbacks, kicking up dry dust. Mom had kept shouting to slow down, but it was too fun. When they’d reached the bottom, they climbed over all the large boulders that lined the lake. Mom had brought extra clothes and towels and a lunch, so he and Finn swam in the cold bright blue water. The caldera water was a deep darkish blue like a sapphire. Finn had scaled the larger boulders, spread his arms, and made silly noises. Will had preferred rolling his shorts up and allowing the cold water to tickle his ankles.

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.