Young Writers Society

Evaline gently led Elliot down the path, trying not to pull too hard or too gently. Just like holding on to the reins when riding, it was all about balance.

It was still hard to believe that she had spent the last two months getting comfortable around horses, or at least, with Elliot. Even more hard to believe, though, was that she had spent the last two months getting comfortable around anyone.

She looked over at James, pausing for just a few seconds to highlight the memories they shared together. Despite the anxiety that permeated them this week, yesterday evening was not a night she'd forget—and it wasn't just because of the waterfall.

Now that she was thinking about it, it seemed that the two times they had seen a waterfall, something seemed to change in their friendship. If she had to pinpoint exactly when their friendship shifted from deceit and obligation to candor and compassion, it would be at the first waterfall at the woods.

"That's a shame," she finally said, looking ahead of them again while following the path. "I'm glad we ran into it, then."

James nodded slowly as he scanned the edge of the cliff, down the slope.

"Me too," he said. "It's a good thing we didn't hop in nearer to the waterfall, too, and instead just got to appreciate it from the outside."

"Right, like literally run into it," Evaline said with a chuckle, glancing over at Elliot next to her before glancing at James. "Although, that might have been a fun drop."

She mused the thought exercise over.

"If we were in a proper diving position, do you think we'd survive the impact?"

James scoffed.

"Diving right into the rocks that are likely at the bottom? I think not."

Evaline hummed this over, deciding to add more fuel to the hypothetical situation, partly to keep the conversation going, and partly because she was curious.

"But let's say the river is deep. Obviously we know it isn't, but hypothetically, let's say the depth of the river at the bottom of the cliff is at least three times our height."

She flicked her eyes at him.

"Would we survive the impact?"

"If we somehow managed to fall correctly and glide through the water instead of smacking it at full force, possibly," James said. "But it's a hell of a gamble, and we would be very, very lucky."

Evaline slightly pursed her lips at the thought, letting the sound of their feet crunching sand and Elliot's clops fill the brief silence between them.

Luck had always been an arbitrary concept for her; she only really understood it in the positive light, like finding something she thought she lost, or accidentally discovering something. That was luck.

Narrowly avoiding danger? That wasn't luck, especially since she had the option to undo and try again.

She decided to not point this out to James, though. As a sensitive man who seemed to narrowly avoid danger time and time again, she had a feeling that he didn't want to hear her views of how surviving an impact from the cliff would not be luck to her. Because eventually, she'd learn to do it right, however many tries it would take.

"Looks like we can add diving lessons on top of our daily fighting lessons," she said out loud instead.

James laughed weakly. “I’d be happy if we didn’t add that to our list of things to do.”

Evaline felt a smirk tug her lips. "Right. A bucket list of things to do before we die, I presume?"

James looked over at Evaline with one eyebrow raised. “A bucket list? Is that an earth thing?”

Evaline returned the curious look, raising a brow herself.

"You don't know what a..." she began, but then smiled and shook her head, looking back at the path ahead of her while maintaining the tension along Elliot's lead rope.

Although they both came from different worlds, she didn't often talk about specific things from Earth. It somehow didn't surprise her that it took this long for him to point out something trivial that he didn't understand.

"It's basically a list of things you'd want to do before you die," she explained. "It can be anything, really, but common answers involve thrills or traveling."

She paused, deciding to very casually say her next thought out loud.

"What would be on your bucket list?" she asked. "Assuming there are no limitations, like your wanted status and all."

James nodded slightly, and looked out ahead of them in thought. No limitations. If he wasn’t wanted...

“I can’t think of anything as inconsequential as thrill-seeking or traveling,” he said slowly. “But... if I had all of the resources and influence available to me that I would need, I would want to make a difference in the kingdom, somehow. Change the laws, and make it so mages can live freely without fear.”

He paused, looking over to Evaline with only a hint of a smile.

“And a number of other things in society that could use changing,” he said, looking away again, back to the end of the slope that grew nearer.

“That’s not to say there aren’t smaller, much more attainable things that I desire, but nothing’s coming to mind at the moment.”

That wasn’t entirely true, though. There was one more thing. But he didn’t feel he had the strength to bring it up and discuss it at the moment.

Evaline nodded slowly, taking in his words.

James desired a noble thing: to make a difference, specifically by changing unjust laws. Once again, it was uncanny how similar yet different their situations were. Evaline was part of a war effort to do exactly that, with a list of three specific demands that would increase freedom for everyone who wanted to peacefully live in societies. There were even parallels to one of the demands and James wanting mages to live freely again.

Of course, the difference between her and him was that he was alone with this thinking. And although Evaline wouldn't admit it out loud, she didn't actually care to make a difference in the world.

"That sounds like a noble desire," she said softly. "Maybe someday you'll find others who share the same goal as you. Or perhaps your wanted status will eventually fade away."

She paused for a few moments.

"It might not happen right away, but it is a bucket list, after all. The deadline is at the end of your life."

James knew Evaline meant it as an encourgaement, but hearing that the end of his life was the deadline felt like a heavy weight hung around his neck.

The end of his life was as uncertain as their chances of surviving falling down a waterfall.

“True,” he said quietly.

He offerend Evaline a small smile by way of thanks.

“What about you?” he asked. “What’s on your bucket list?”

Evaline was about to ask James a follow-up question, but it appeared he beat her to it.

What was on her bucket list? She may have had a loosely-defined one as a teenager, but that got torn up along with everything else. She was different now at this point of her life, but she didn't ever have time to think about these things, especially since she was constantly reminded of the looming deadline.

She didn't want to say nothing since that would be depressing, but there was one small thing that came to mind, if she were to go back.

"Just one thing," she said, feeling her hand tighten around the lead rope, just a little. "Not travel, but live somewhere new. Somewhere far away from everyone I know."

She let her mind wander as she thought back to the months preceding the day she met James, but then everything screeched to a halt in her head as she realized that the words she just said out loud heavily implied that she was talking about Nye.

Panicking, Evaline nervously glanced at James and started to backpedal on her words. "I mean, on Earth," she clarified quickly. "Somewhere far away from where I live on Earth, from the people I know, and the places I've been to. That's—that's what I meant."