Okay, people, this is for Language Arts, due Friday, needs better title, PLEASE read it! Please! AND REVIEW IT! I DESPERATELY NEED THIS OR I COULD FAIL!!!!!!! So... yeah... just try to read and review? Thanks?
The Worst Fate Imaginable?
Written by Matilda Fenton
Ceridwen Smith lay in her aunt's guest bed, having been rendered temporarily immobile. She had fallen down in attempt to escape the mudslide. A light tap sounded on the door to Ceri's room, causing her to start. As soon as she saw John Greyson, however, she sighed with relief. He closed the door quietly before walking over to her bed and sitting down next to her.
"How are you?" he asked the 16-year-old girl softly.
"I'm fine," she replied, tearing her gaze away from him and looked out the window. After a moment of silence, she turned back to him. "Why'd you come?"
"I heard that you were awake. Since you fell and were knocked out, and all. You know, from the 'slide." Ceri laid back down, grimacing, relieving the terrible memories of the mudslide from the day before.
"Ceri! Ceri, where ya goin'?" Jen Connolie, Ceri's best friend, called.
"I'm going to visit the Antee boys! Wanna come?" Jen's eyes lit up as she nodded. "C'mon, let's go!" The two girls skipped over to visit Marc, Jen's 15-year-old boyfriend, and Alex, a 13-year-old boy who was an aspiring author. Suddenly Talia Smith, Ceridwen's 14-year-old sisterly pain, appeared.
"Can I come?" she asked, her eyes widening with anticipation.
"Sure," Ceri replied, knowing of her sister's crush on Alex. "Just don't do anything rash like you did last time!" Jen and Ceri burst out laughing, remembering Talia's birthday party where she found Mr. and Mrs. Smith's wine stash and had a little bit too much.
"Yeah, try not to fling yourself at anyone this time!" Jen taunted, dodging a kick from Talia. The trio continued on.
"Hey, where ya going?" Shaun Connolie asked, hobbling to reach the three girls. The 16-year-old was a cripple, having had a tree fall on him when he was younger in a storm.
"The Antees. John and Ellie are already there, and we're already late. C'mon, we can't waste any more time. Let's go!" Ceri shouted impatiently, anxious to hear what Alex had to say. "Plus, it looks like it's gonna rain. Again."
"Why are we going, anyways?" Jen asked, utterly confused.
"Oh, that's right! I didn't tell you! Alex said that he has something really important to tell us." They finally reached the Antee house.
Stepping inside and sitting down, Talia asked, "So, what'd you want to tell us?" She was batting her eyelashes at Alex.
"Well, um… this will probably come as a huge shock to you, but…" He paused, taking a deep breath. "I'm gay." Seven pairs of eyes stared at him, yet only six mouths hung agape in shock.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Shaun asked, pointing towards the kitchen with his cane. Alex nodded as he helped Shaun up, walking out of the living room.
"Oh… my… gosh…" Talia said, near tears. "No… this… this isn't fair!" She jumped up and ran from the house, tears streaming down her freckled face.
Marc disappeared to his room, and Jen soon excused herself, claiming that she needed to 'freshen up'. Voices drifted down from Marc's room, one angry and another comforting, though they were soon replaced by silence.
"I have to go," Ellie said after Alex and Shaun still did not emerge from the kitchen. "Can't risk getting… contaminated."
"You don't catch something like this, you idiot!" John cried, standing up. After a few seconds of staring at each other, he added, "Maybe you should go." The 18-year-old girl huffed and left, muttering to herself. John sat back down, staring off into space in silence.
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Meanwhile, the rain beat down upon the mountains surrounding the small valley where the town lay. "It's terrible the way it's been rainin' here so much, been for about a month now at least! And this town- it's so backwards! The only one like it in Iceland, I should say," Eddie Greyson said to a fawn he had found abandoned on the mountainside. He went up to it everyday to feed it, even in the pouring rain. Suddenly the earth under his feet was shifting, moving, sliding. It was as if the mountain was angry at the rain for beating at it and turning its rich soil into mud, so it decided to simply move out of the way. Mud flowed down the mountainside, mixing with trees and rocks to pick up Mr. Greyson and his fawn, gathering speed as it went along until it was traveling over 35 miles per hour.
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Back at Marc and Alex's, John was still staring at the wall. Ceridwen kept sneaking glances at him. They were sitting alone in silence.
"Guys! Guys, everything is falling! There's mud and earth rushing down the mountain!" Ellie stopped cold when she saw John swiped a glimpse at Ceri. Her scream brought everyone else running.
"Mudslide, coming, blah blah blah, we have to get out of here NOW, let's GO!" John shouted before Ellie could say anything. The seven teens scrambled outside, almost running into Talia. A huge boulder fell onto Shaun's cane, snapping it in two. Everyone stared at him.
"I'll never make it, guys. I'll just stay. Go on." Alex gaped at him. "Alex, just go! Don't stay with me! Just leave. Please." Alex's eyes filled with tears as he leaned over to Shaun and kissed his cheek.
"I love you, Shaun," he said softly, his voice cracking. "I'll never forget you."
"I love you too," Shaun replied. "Just remember, I'll always watch over you." And, with one last tender parting kiss, Alex left, tears flowing freely down his cheeks.
"Shaun? You're queer too? AND you're gonna die? This is screwed!" Jen shouted. Marc grabbed her hand and pulled her along, towards the exit out of the valley, with Ellie and Talia hot on their heels. Ceri stood, staring down at Shaun, despite John's firm grip attempting to pull her along. She finally snapped to attention, sprinting to the exit. Chunks of rocks were flying everywhere. A tree fell over in Ceri's path, whacking a boulder up onto her head. The last thing she saw before she was knocked unconscious was her parents, along with Ms. Connolie, Mr. and Mrs. McNeal, Mr. Antee, and his girlfriend Ms. Tollen waving them over to the exit as John scooped her up, carrying her towards them.
"Are you okay?" Ceri's dad asked when she woke.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Who made it out?"
"Everyone but Shaun and Mr. Greyson. I'm sorry, honey," her mom replied. "Your friends want to come see you, okay?" Ceri merely nodded. Her parents left the bedroom, which was in her aunt's house.
"Oh, Ceri! Thank goodness you're okay!" Jen shouted. "Alex's simply miserable! I don't know what I'd have done if we'd lost you too! Mom is so depressed, after losing her only son and Mr. Greyson. I've cried my eyes out!" She paused to take a breath. "So… how are you?"
"Okay, I guess. Da says my ankle's broken, though." She fought to keep her tears in. Mr. Greyson had always been like a second father to her, and Shaun was her best friend's brother and her own good friend.
"I'll send in Talia." Jen left, and Talia soon took her place.
"I can't believe that everything turned out this way," she said softly. "Alex's gay, Shaun and Mr. Greyson are dead, and Mr. Antee and Ms. Tollen are engaged! Everything is so messed up!" Talia screamed in anger, soon bursting out in tears. "Sorry. I should go." She left quickly. Marc and Alex came in together. The latter's eyes were puffy and he kept looking at his feet.
"Ellie ran away earlier. She tried to kill herself," Marc said softly.
"Shaun's gone…" Alex looked away, his eyes glistening with painful tears. His face bore an age he should never know, and he seemed to have seen too much.
Ceri beckoned Alex over, and he crumpled at her side, sobbing. "I know, Alex. I know you miss him. But remember, he's taking care of you." All three looked up at the ceiling of the guest room, their eyes shimmering.
"We should go," Marc said. The two brothers left, the air between them static and hesitant. The next day John came to call.
Ceri's memory ended as John continued. "They found Ellie. She's with her parents. I'm rooming with them for a while. I went back to the town. Checked it out. It's terrible. Mud up to the roofs… or where they once were… All the houses are crushed. Trees and rocks everywhere. I also saw dad… he's dead…" John started crying. Ceri Reached out and stroked his hair. He turned to her and, gently resting his hands on her shoulders, kissed her. Their tears mixed, becoming one. He pulled away. "Look, I know you're only 16, but we are sort of going steady, so… someday, not now, but someday in the future, would you marry me?" Ceri smiled and nodded, kissing John again. For a moment it was as if nothing was wrong, as if the mudslide had never happened, as if no one had died. It was as if everything would be all right.