*****
Benji did not wake up with a frog on his face. It was a beetle. He felt the legs tickling his cheek and swatted the sensation away. When he looked down, he saw a large, shiny, brown beetle scurrying away. At least it wasn’t a frog, Benji thought. He shuddered anyway.
His body ached. Benji had never slept on the ground before. His uncomfortable bed combined with the exhausted muscles of yesterday made him stiff and sore. He stretched awkwardly and listened with cringing ears to the sounds of bones and joints cracking. His legs felt weak when he stood. Benji discovered his shoulders and neck muscles were stuck in a painfully tight position. He spent at least fifteen minutes slowly relaxing them in tiny increments before he felt ready to move around normally.
He could only guess at the time, the day was cloudy and slate gray. His watch informed him that it was a quarter after nine. That couldn’t be right, could it? Benji planned on being woken by the sunrise, but the overcast sky had prevented it. He felt a few drops of rain on his face and realized it was drizzling sporadically. He hoped it didn’t storm, but maybe rain could be an advantage. If Grandpa or anyone else were trying to follow him the rain might make it harder, maybe wash away his tracks.
Benji’s stomach growled. He was famished and his mouth was dry from thirst. He drank a bottle of water after finding his canteen was empty. He was still thirsty, but decided it was better to preserve the supplies he had. He filled the canteen with water from the stream. It could serve as a last resort if Benji ran out of water bottles. He only had four left, so it was likely the spring water would come in handy. He only hoped it was free of magical properties.
Breakfast was quick. He had grabbed a box of cheerios from the house before he left the night before. The box was mangled from being abused in his backpack, but the plastic wasn’t ripped open. He ate a few dry handfuls, saving up the rest along with his last few granola bars. If he didn’t make it to the third mountain today he was going to be seriously low on supplies. Benji cleaned his hands and splashed cold water on his face at the grotto. Feeling more awake, he cleaned up his camp site and put the blankets away. He took out his map and tried to determine his position. Unfortunately, Benji still couldn’t recall exactly what direction he was running when the mouse was chasing him. Logically, he thought he had gone somewhat southwest of the Giant Mushroom Forest. He still needed to figure out where to go from here, though.
The hidden sun wasn’t much help in determining his direction. He could still see the three mountains behind the trees, but they were hazy in the cloud cover. Benji unearthed his binoculars to get a better look. Unless he’d gotten seriously turned around yesterday (which was a slight possibility considering his panicked runs), the farthest mountain was still his destination. He was practically at the base of the first mountain, which was closer than he assumed it was last night.
From his current perspective, the third mountain didn’t look that far. The Three Sisters weren’t very large to begin with and were really close together. If he was lucky and quick, he could find Thana before the sun set today. Oversleeping hadn’t been part of the plan. Benji needed to hurry, but he was sure it wouldn’t take too long to get to the third mountain and find the sister who lived there. He only hoped he didn’t run into any more trouble along the way.
*****
Chapter 27: Firelight Confessions