Under Zenith by Shannen Crane Camp Page A

get outside just in case that zombie from yesterday decided to stick around. Of course I could always look out the windows, but the shutters seemed to be stuck, only letting in the tiny beam of light I had woken to that snuck between the wooden planks.
    Sitting down on the moldy bed again , I felt myself shiver involuntarily as I replayed the traumatic scene from yesterday. The cabin was quiet; the sound muffled by the layers of dust that coated every surface. But somewhere, I could vaguely hear what sounded like crying.
    Not just crying, but a woman crying.
    “Mama?” I whispered to the empty room, wondering if my mind was playing tricks on me.
    “My little girl,” she whispered back, her voice broken and difficult to hear.
    Was I actually hearing my mother? Was my spirit somehow still linked to my body?
    “Mama?” I said again, this time a bit louder, hoping that by some miracle she could hear me.
    I looked around the room, desperate to find some indication that she could hear what I was saying.
    Though the sound was still muffled, I could have sworn my brother’s voice came next, saying, “I can’t believe this happened.”
    “Tuck!” I shouted, overjoyed to hear his voice, but instantly saddened by the reminder that I could no longer see him.
    Forgetting about my fears, I opened the door to the cabin and ran out into the thick fog. Apparently the beautiful sunny day had disappeared the second I stepped outside. I could barely see my hand in front of my face, but I could tell right away that the ground felt different than it had the day before.
    Where dirt and plants had padded the ground before, there was now thick, lush grass. It was almost as if the cabin wasn’t in the same place as it was yesterday. Of course that didn’t make any sense. But none of my experience in this place had made sense so far.
    “Tuck?” I called again, now running blindly through the fog that had so quickly replaced the sunlight, not concerned with the cabin that I could no longer see. “I can hear you, Tuck.”
    “ Are you completely insane? Get back here!” Hayden yelled, pulling me back forcefully by the arm so that I spun around and hit his chest painfully.
    “That hurt,” I shouted at him, mostly angry that he had scared me so badly and less concerned with the iron tight grip he had on my upper arm at the moment.
    “Not as much as falling off the island, genius,” he retorted coolly, nodding over my shoulder into the fog. “I don’t need you failing the second task before it even starts.”
    I looked behind me, trying to understand what he was talking about. I still wasn’t sure when the sun had disappeared and left me with the impenetrable curtain of fog, but it made it very difficult to make out my surroundings.
    “Let me help you,” he said.
    Hayden pulled on my arm, yanking me down to the ground with him so that we were on our hands and knees, side by side. He looked over at me with an annoyed raise of his eyebrow, his face only inches from mine and our shoulders touching.
    I hate d myself for noticing how blue his eyes were at this proximity.
    “Look down there,” he said, nodding to the grass in front of us and finally releasing my arm, leaving a bright red mark where his hand had been only moments before.
    Something told me he wasn’t too concerned with hurting me since I plagued his existence with pleasant conversation.
    Trying to ignore the fact that Hayden had so unexpectedly doomed my day with his angst, I crawled forward a bit, letting my hands feel the ground in front of me to avoid whatever hazard he was trying to show me. It only took a few seconds to see why he had been so forceful with me (besides the obvious reason that it gave him a good excuse to manhandle me and inflict at least a little pain). The grass ended suddenly and dropped off into nothingness.
    I would have called it a cliff , if I could see the bottom of the drop off, or even if I could see the earth below the grass. But from what