Aurora 2021 Mag

Ally Groves

We were at a high point of the mountains when Chris made us stop. He had cell service for the first time in four days—it was one of the most exciting things we’d ever heard. We tried to call his Gastbruder, Alex, pick up , we chanted. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up. We stood around his phone, looking in adoration, as if it was anything other than wires and plastic the size of a slug. Pick up . He did and the flood gates opened. Alex , we rushed. Alex, do you have Google? Alex, can you look something up? Alex, have you been watching the news? Alex, what do you know about the bombs? There was so much we had to say, Alex could barely even hear us with the bad connection and we could barely hear him. Still, we hung onto his every word. Bahhhhhhhh , we yelled, bahhhh . They wouldn’t bahh back. Daniel was back on the ground laughing again. Chris joined him, bahhhhhaahahha . The jacket I wore might have kept my skin protected, but it trapped the heat in, baked my arms in a different way. I could only imagine holding all that wool, sitting in that fence. I might not bahh either. far away Daniel decided his stick would make a great sword; he whacked Lucas, and suddenly we all had sticks, all hitting Lucas, all hitting each other. I just started swinging my arms around, eyes open, barely even knew what I was hitting anymore; the heat seeped too far into my brain, pushing out any thoughts. I couldn’t feel my brain if I tried; not through the sweat, not through the blisters, not through the forming welts on my arms and sides. I didn’t care; it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore. Maybe if this was Algiers and not Austria, and I had a gun and not a stick, someone would have died. We hit each other and kept laughing. Lucas asked us what we would do if we got stuck here, if there was no way back home. We didn’t know. Maybe try to run away, move back in with our host families, call Alex again to see if he would take us in. I asked if it mattered anymore. We didn’t know that either. far away The sun was starting to sink into the horizon and I finally elected to take my jacket off, freeing my soaking arms. We couldn’t decide if we she wore it for the young marine whose far, far away We hadn’t found any houses yet, but we did find sheep.

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