“Can you breathe?”
“Not really.”
“Shhh. Someone's coming.”
The door creaked open and light quietly slid into the room. Footsteps. The door shut again.
“Is he gone?”
“I think so.”
“Jezy, help me out of here.”
She slowly lifted the pillows and blankets covering Halton's hidden body. She lifted the one from his face and he smiled.
“Ahh air!”
She giggled.
“I'm all sweaty now.” Halton touched his forehead, then rubbed it back and forth.
“Well it was worth it. He didn't find us. I told you these were good hiding spots!”
“Let's run to base. I bet we are the last ones.”
“Aren't I always?” Jezy boasted.
Halton grabbed her hand and peeked out the door.
“Coast is clear. You ready?”
Jezy grinned and nodded.
They burst from the closet and sprinted towards the kitchen table as fast as they could. Halton never once letting go of Jezy's hand. They made it all the way without anyone even spotting them. They sat down in a puff and looked at each other.
“Hey! Where were you guys? I looked everywhere!” Thomas said rounding the corner.
“Not everywhere! I told you you could never find me! No one can.” Jezy mocked proudly.
“Did you cheat? Did you switch spots?”
“No. I hid near her. We were both hiding fair and square.” Halton defended.
Thomas scowled a little.
“Where's Cora and Tye?” Jezy asked looking around the room.
“Outside. I found them right away.”
The boys followed Jezy outside into the backyard. Cora and Tye were sitting on the trampoline playing cards.
“Ugh finally!” Cora sighed.
“Where'd you guys hide?” Tye asked, curiously, looking at Halton.
“Can't tell you. Jezy made me promise. She only showed me if I promised not to tell, so I'm not gonna.”
“Who cares. Let's play something else. I'm bored.” Cora rolled her eyes.
“What do you want to play?” Halton asked.
“I don't know.”
“What about Jacks?”
“No, we played that at recess today.”
“Um...how about Ninjas?”
“No way! That's a dumb boy’s game” Cora huffed.
“It's not dumb! It's cool!” Jezy interrupted.
Cora rolled her eyes again. “Of course you think its cool Jezy. I'm not playing Ninjas.”
“Well what do you want to play Cora?” Thomas asked aggressively.
“Let's play...The Sleeping Beauty game!”
The boys groaned in unison.
“Do we have to?” Halton asked with puppy dog eyes.
“Yes. Tye you want to play right?”
“Sure, I guess that could be fun. Can I be Sleeping Beauty this time?”
“No. I'm always Sleeping Beauty, duh. You can be one of the fairies. Jezy you can be a fairy too.”
“Can I be the dragon instead?” Jezy proposed.
“Hey no way! I'm the dragon. If I have to play this dumb game then I get to be the only cool thing.” Thomas bickered, shoving her a little.
Halton made a fist by his side.
“It's okay. I'll be the other fairy. The one with the sword though!” Jezy said, smiling with just her lips.
Cora stood up on the trampoline. “Okay, so Halton, that means you're the Prince. Remember the rules. Halton, you have to find me and rescue me from my dead-like sleep. If you find Tye, she can give you one hint to where I'm at. If you find Jezy, she can give you a sword that will kill the dragon. If you run into the dragon without the sword you are dead. If you have the sword you can fight him and when you beat him he will give you a hint to where Tye is. Okay, go inside while we talk about where we will all be.”
Halton trudged inside and watched his friends voicelessly talk through the kitchen window. He watched as Cora did most of the talking. Then he watched as a breeze rustled through Jezy's brown hair, and smiled. He noticed Cora waving at him to come back outside.
“Okay we're good. I'm gonna go get a juice box and put my princess outfit on.”
“Do you still have those fairy wings I could borrow Cora?” Tye asked softly.
“I want some juice!” Thomas demanded.
They all three walked inside the house, leaving Halton and Jezy alone.
“So are yo-”
“I'll be down by the river, near the old dead tree. If you wanna find me. I'll be catching minnows while I wait.” Jezy interrupted.
“I could've found you if I wanted to.”
“No one ever has! I told you, Halton, that means you too.” Jezy teased.
She looked at Halton and smiled. She liked the way that the sun made his eyes look like chocolate. He smiled back at her. He was about to say something when the creak of the back door groaned loudly.
“I'm ready! Halton go inside.” Cora ordered, stepping from the door. “Count to three hundred, then you can come out.”
The moment the door closed, all four took off running into the bordering woods. Tye's blue, glittery little fairy wings bounced around on her back. Cora held her pink tulle dress up by her thighs while she ran. Jezy was the first to reach the tree line. She looked back for a moment towards the house and saw Thomas lagging behind. Then she turned and followed the trail into the woods. She found the old tree and the eddied section of the river quickly. Bent over the bank, knees in her chest, she looked for minnows in the water. There wasn't any. She thought this was strange since there were always minnows here before. A water strider glided across the surface breaking its tension for a brief moment. Jezy stood up. Then she got the idea to scare Halton. Looking around, she spotted a tree just across the river that had good climbing branches.
Halton finally reached three hundred. He walked outside and looked at the still woods, then set off into them. He followed the path down to the river and after about a minute, found the dead tree.
“Jezy?” His eyes darted around. He looked at the eddy and saw two little footprints side by side on the muddied edge of the water.
“Jezy where are you?” He said louder.
A loud snap of a twig spun him around. A brown squirrel spiraled its way up a large oak and chittered at him.
“Seriously Jezy. This isn't funny.”
A cicada clicked loudly and was then joined by a few more. A bullfrog croaked invisibly. Halton started to become desperate.
“Jezy! Jezy!” He shouted.
He started trotting down the bank of the river. Frantically moving his eyes around the landscape. He kept shouting her name. The river swirled harder. He saw an old green covered log stretching across the deep part of the river. He ran up to the roots that twisted dead in the air. Cupping his hands across his mouth, he yelled her name again across the fallen tree.
He looked at the log closer. About halfway across he noticed some missing green. The moss looked swiped away. Halton's eyes grew big. He started sprinting down the bank of the river. A large river rock snagged his sneaker and he fell. He didn't stop. The blood from his knee flowed down his leg, but Halton didn't even know he was hurt. Then he saw her.
She was lying on her side on the embankment. Her eyes were shut and the only thing moving was her bare foot, which was still in the river being pushed gently around by the current.
Halton scrambled to her and knelt. He carefully placed her head in his lap. The water from her hair was cold against his skin.
“Jezy! Jezy!” He patted her cheeks and shook her shoulders. “Jezy, wake up!”
She didn't move.
Halton remember seeing something in movies about CPR and drowning. Inhaling, he put his mouth to hers and then blew in the deepest breath he could.
Jezy began to cough. She spit up water onto her face and Halton began wiping it away with the only dry spot on his shirt.
“Are you okay? Can you breathe?”
Jezy tried to speak, but began coughing again. She nodded and weakly smiled up at Halton.
He pulled her further into his lap and wrapped his arms around her, trying to ease her shivering.
“The moss. I slipped. I don't remember.” Jezy sputtered out.
Halton smiled and pushed some of the damp brown hair out of her face.
“See Jezy? I told you I could find you.”