Take Ten to Write

“NaNoWriMo 2020 Pt. 12”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Additional note: In honour of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), all 30 stories written in the month of November will (hopefully) create a single multi-part story that will reach its conclusion by the end of the month. Stay tuned for a new story part every day!

Read the compiled NaNoWriMo TTtW story here!

Prompt: “See you tomorrow.”

MASON’S POV

These rocks will honestly be the death of me.

It feels like I’ve been walking forever, but in reality, it’s only been a day. I’ve walked for a whole day, and I have no idea if I’m getting any closer to finding Skye.

Around noon, I stop for a break. I’m almost out of water and I can’t see a single source of water around here.

So now I have yet another choice. I can either head back to the forest and try to find a stream but most likely let Skye get farther away. Or I can keep going and just hope that I find some water and that I’m headed in the right direction.

I sigh as I weigh my options. The apocalypse is just the worst.

“I wish you were here,” I say. “I wish that none of this happened. Honestly, I even wish that I was still in school, if that would make everything normal again.”

“I know,” Garrett says. He puts a hand on my shoulder. “But this is normal now. Dwelling on the past won’t help you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter. I sit down on the hard rock and Garrett crouches beside me. Suddenly, it occurs to me that Garrett doesn’t know about Skye. “Hey, by the way, I found your girlfriend.”

Immediately, Garrett’s eyes light up. “How is she?” he asks eagerly. “Is she safe? Is she healthy?”

I hesitate. I’m not entirely sure how to tell him that she’s one of… them.

Finally, I settle on saying, “She looked healthy when I saw her last.”

Garrett frowns. “What do you mean ‘when you saw her last’?”

I purse my lips. “Well… she got kidnapped last night while I was sleeping. At least, I think she did.”

Garrett’s eyes widen and he jumps to his feet. “Why are we sitting around then? We have to find her!”

“Look, I don’t even know which way she went,” I say, succumbing to the rocks. I lie down on my back and stare up at the darkening sky. “Plus, I’m running out of food and water.”

Garrett stares at me. “So?”

“So?” I scoff. “So, if I run out of food and water, that means I’ll be dead. And I can’t find your girlfriend if I’m dead, can I?”

“I guess not,” Garrett admits.

He falls silent for a moment, before saying, “Hey Mace?”

“Yeah?” I ask, my eyes starting to close.

“Whatever you choose, just remember that I’m proud of you,” he says, kneeling beside me and pulling my jacket closed around me.

A moment later, he’s gone.

I let out a deep sigh as sleep begins to overtake me.

“See you tomorrow, Garrett,” I whisper.

Final Comments: This one was actually pretty fun to write. I feel like it would’ve been much more effective if Garrett had appeared (physically) in previous sections, but that’s a problem for re-writes.

Overall Rating: 😃

Let me know your thoughts!