The smoke gets thicker and I tell my friends to wet their shirt and pull it up over their mouth and nose. The smoke is so strong that I can barely keep my eyes open without tearing up. Jason and I propel the big, surprisingly light log towards the rock. I guess it was scorched completely by the dry heat. It hits the top of one of the rocks, takes an awkward bounce and settles in. We shake the log a bit to secure it and kick away some dirt in the ground to create a dent in which the log will stay fixed to, hopefully.

            We decide to let Mike go first in case he needs any assistance. He crawls on all three’s and carefully makes his way across the log. I keep trying to think of how we can escape after we make it to the rocks. I come up with the idea of actually hop to other rocks. It may not bring us to the other side but at least it’ll take us farther away from the fire. Jason, though big and muscular, is also very quick and agile. He quickly crawls across the log onto the rock. There is just enough space for one more person to squish in, me.

            Alas it is my turn. My brain stops thinking and I focus all my concentration onto one task, getting across the log without falling. I start suffering from angst as soon as I step onto the log. The speed at which I crawl at is literally slower than a turtle. When I finally make it there, Jason is there to pull me up.

            We’re safe from the fire, but not the water, we need to get to the other side. “Let’s use these rocks as bridges to hop across,” I suggest. They listen and in no time we start hopping precisely from one stone to another. I call still feel the heat of the fire on my skin, I need to get away fast. In no time, we reach the last stone and the gap we need to clear to make it to the other side is about two meters away. Mike and Jason both jump and safely land right at the edge of the riverbank. When it comes my turn, I bend down, swing my arms and leap. I had done this so many times in gym class that I wasn’t even worried about not making it.

            I effortlessly land on the edge and prepare to celebrate our escape just when the wet dirt under my feet slides off from the mainland and I tumble into the water. Despite the hot weather, the water is amazingly cold. I flail around trying to grab anything I can get a hold of. The plunge into the water and the frigid temperature send my body into shock. All I see is an amalgamation of trees, Jason chasing after me, and darkness. The raging current drowns out most of the sound but I can still hear Jason yelling “wat…all…terfall.” Suddenly, I realize what he is saying, waterfall!

            As I tumble and get smashed by rocks, I helplessly think to myself, “oh well, it’s been a good life, at least they made it safely to the other side. I just hope they’ll say goodbye to my mom and da-”

“Eric! Get up! You’re friends will be here in an hour so you better eat and get ready for your hiking trip!” I wake up and hear my mom yell.

I lie on my bed, shaken and startled. I think for a moment and reply, “its ok mom! Tell them I don’t want to go anymore!”