The Long Trek

Chapter 3

Meadow

I woke up a bit later to my sisters huddled around me. It was always nice being so close. After all we are all the same age. We were born the same year, months apart, but to us, it was like we were all born the same day. I smiled softly as I watched Ember cuddle up closely to Alda.

Alda had her arm and leg thrown over me and Ember was right behind her in a spooning position. They all looked so graceful when they slept. I hated to wake them.

"Hey." I said as I turned to my other side to wake Wren first.

Alda was always a demon to wake.

"Hey. I'm glad to see I wasn't dreaming about us being in this situation." She rubbed her eyes and began to stretch before standing and looking around. I turned the other way, still laying down because of Alda's, and ultimately Ember's, weight was across my whole body. I placed a small peck on my chubby little sister's head and decided it was best to just rip the band aid off.

"Alda, Ember…come on guys, wake up. We must get going. We still aren't sure how to cross the lake. We may need to go around it. We will find out more when we get closer to it. " I spoke to them tenderly but with enough force that they began to stir.

"OH MY GOD! I just want to lay here a bit longer. The damn house or the lake aren't going anywhere." Alda scowled at me before removing her arms and legs from my body. "I mean think about it guys, Hanafrey had to have put us here. Maybe the smell Wren came across was something that would knock us out so she could get rid of us for good. Have you ever thought of that? It's not like anyone else wants us anyways…" She was angry and sad, but somewhere in those icy blue eyes I saw a hint of happiness.

"Let's just get going. I'm starving and could really use a bathroom right about now!" Ember hugs Alda trying to console her. Though all she accomplished was a stare of death and a not so happy girl stomping away, ahead of us all.

"Come on." I huffed out and linked my arm with Ember. She had a small pout on her gorgeous face, but she smiled softly after we walked for a few minutes.

"Have you all noticed how weird this place is? Like seriously weird! Not just the colors either." Wren was speaking to us all with such excitement. For her, this journey was a once in a lifetime mystery and she was smack dab in the middle of it. The adventure of a lifetime shone bright in her eyes and she was not going to pass this up.

"What do you mean weird…outside of the obvious?" Ember dropped my arm and waved both hands in the air like she was trying to figure out what Wren was talking about.

"I MEAN…" she snapped back "wherever we are isn't like back home. Have you not noticed that we haven't seen one bird or animal since we got here?" She had a point now that I think about it. I glanced in the sky and back at the forest behind us. Not one sign of anything living…besides the trees of course.

"Let's just go. We aren't going to get any answers standing in this field." I stated to the girls. We started our trek again. No one spoke, but you could tell we were all on edge trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

After what seemed like eternity, we finally made it to the lake. The water was shimmering in the light of the setting sun. The orange clouds had faded into a soft pink and the sky was becoming a deeper purple. I watched the colors dance across the water as a soft wind blew rings on its surface. I saw a ripple in the water to my right and smiled when I saw a turtle. Or at least it looked like a turtle. I was excited because this is our first animal, we have seen…some normalcy. As it swam closer to us, I noticed it had a golden translucent shell surrounding its turquoise body. It flapped its arms under the water, inching closer to the bank where we all stood in wonder watching. I can say that nothing like this has ever been found back home. We may have just discovered a new species!

"Hello, you beautiful little turtle!" Alda was at the edge of the lake. As the unique creature came closer, seeming to understand Alda squeals of excitement, a feeling of understanding washed over me. It was like I knew this golden creature was meant to be the first animal to cross out path. I wasn't even worried when Alda walked slightly into the water to pick up the turtle. As soon as her hands touched it, it began to glow and so did Alda's copper curls. I stared in horror as her eyes deepened and she stepped further into the water.

"Alda! What the hell are you doing!? Oh my God Meadow get her…get her out of that damn water. She is going to kill herself! ALDA…get ahold of yourself. DROP THAT TURTLE NOW!" Ember was frantic. She kept trying to go toward the water, but something was holding us all back. I was trying to calm the hysterical Ember when Wren came to help me.

"Girl! Calm down. She is ok. Don't you feel that?" Wren almost whispered to us. I turned back to Alda who was now knee deep in the beautiful waters of this serene place. She was holding the majestic turtle to her chest with one hand. The other hand was raised to us as if beckoning us to follow.

"Come sisters" she demanded in a voice that no longer held her timidness. Her rosy cheeks, that I loved so much, now chiseled the beautiful shape of her high cheekbones. She even seemed to be slightly thinner…and taller? I realized that in the moments we were calming Ember down, Alda's appearance changed in the slightest, to accent beauty unknown. "This is the way. Trust me Sisters." She takes a step backward, further into the depths on the lake.

"Well, we are in this together, ladies." Wren smiled matter-of-factly and she took the first steps into the water to grab Alda's hand. She didn't start to glow like the turtle or like our little sister. She turned to me and held her hand up like Alda had. I stole a quick glance at Ember, thinking that she would protest. I was surprised when she seemed calm. Way calmer than she has been moments before.

"I guess we are off then to swim across this unknown lake. I really hope this isn't a Lake Placid type situation and a huge gator has been feeding on all the animal life around. Alda, I hope you know what the hell you are doing." There is the fiery Ember I know. The squared her shoulders and marched to grab Wren's hand. I giggled at her attitude and walk to the edge of the bank to bring up the rear of our swimming party.

"Ok…so what happens now?" I asked Alda from the bank as I noticed her taking another step deeper, putting her hip deep.

"Now we cross…as soon as you are in the water too." She stared blankly. Though she seems to be glowing and her eyes had darkened, I noticed that she is calmer and more confident than I had ever seen her. I chuckle inwardly realizing that we are all experiencing a bit of happiness on this journey. The exhilaration of the moment has me perplexed and intrigued. Even if we didn't know what's going on just yet, I could feel we were in for the ride of our live. I was ready to take that leap with the 3 women I cared about most.

"We should get going. The sun will likely be down by the time we cross. I would hate to still be wet and swimming in the dark." I smiled, held Ember's hand tight and stepped into the water.

I expected to have a feeling as magical as that turtle my sister held. But nope! Nothing special happened when I touched the icy pool. I moved deeper with my sisters until we were all the same depth as Alda.

"Are you ready?" She asked us with a grin. She formed a circle with us and placed the turtle in the center.

When the turtle submerged…the magic happened.