-27-
You wake Mimi up and slide into the log. It’s big enough to fit both
of you and keeps you warm by trapping your body heat. About midnight you
wake up and hear footsteps in the wood. You recognize Aures voices. They
get louder and louder as you try to will them away. You don’t breath as the
Aures warriors pass right by your log. Finally their footsteps fade into
the night. Luckily they don’t notice you inside the log. Eventually you
manage to fall asleep again.
It seems just a few seconds later when you wake up the next morning.
It’s drizzling and something hard is pressing against your side. You squirm
around and manage to grab the offending rock. You turn over in the log and
wonder why it seems as though the log is bigger this morning. Suddenly you
sit up, banging your head on the top of the log and causing a rain of debris
to fall on top of you. Mimi! She’s gone. You think back to last night.
She was there when you woke up last night; you’re sure of that. You crawl
out of the log and squint through the trees and rain. You start to call her
name then wonder if the Aures are still patrolling the woods. They might
hear you and come to take you away. You shiver- and it’s not just from the
cold.
Do you call Mimi’s name and hope the Aures don’t hear you? -40-
Or do you set out in search of her? -41-