Escape From Rainbowland Chapter 2

"Jewel! Wake up you lazy bum!"

I roll over. Why can't I get a few more minutes of sleep? It would help me a lot of they could just let me sleep. Oh, why did I even volunteer for Scouting? Even Patrol gets more time to rest!

"Don't make me drag you out! You know I will!" yells David, my friend and leader of the Scouts.

I yell back in reply, "David, keep your undies on! I swear to the gods above if you drag me out again, I will stab your sorry butt!"

I roll out of my bed of moss and leaves. Slipping on my small jacket and my blue, baggy jeans, I shove on my shoes, which are black and white tennis shoes, and tie them. Finally, I somewhat brush my hair with a brush made out of thorns and hardened mud.

David pops his head in and asks, "Are you ready yet, Your Highness? Take any longer and you will officially be slower than a snail."

I chunk a rock at him. He laughs and runs away. I walk out of the tent to darkness. I guess my way to where the rest of the Scouts are.

"Hey, I'm here! Sarah, do you have my knife?" I say.

Sarah nods. She is a lightly tanned teenager that, sadly, is taller than me by a couple inches. She hands me back my knife and expectantly looks at me. In return, I give her a nut. As she stows it in her pocket, I look around for David. I spot him right away. He is hard to miss, being seven feet high and a ghastly white against the darkness the night provides.

David sees me as well and comes up to me, "Hey, Jewel, are you up finally awake?"

"Is it my fault you guys get up before the rooster even crows?" I respond. I give him a small slap, laughing, "Why do you even get up so early?"

His features grow hard. He says, "You know why." Suddenly, he gets taken aside by another Scout. He shoots me a saddened glance and goes back to listening.

It's not fair! We keep searching for an escape, but find none. It is impossible to escape. Especially looking for an escape before the sun even rises. The gummy bears haven't attacked us yet, but they might soon. The Scouts are no match for a bunch of animated pieces of candy that likes to murder people. I think they are candy. The alternative seems unlikely and weird.

Yesterday, we nearly ran into a herd of unicorns. The last time we ran into unicorns . . . Well, nobody talks about it. The incident lays fresh in my mind, though. I will never forget. That was the time one of the kids snuck along. Yori.

I stand there, watching as David told the children they couldn't come. They were all disappointed. All left except for Yori. I watched as she hid behind the trees nearby. I told the Scouts to start without me and went to Yori.

"Yori, what are you doing? Go play, nobody wants you hurt," I said. She crossed her arms and shook her head in defiance. I pushed her to where the rest of the children went, "Come on, we don't know what is it there. You could get seriously hurt!"

Yori responded, "I'm bored. There is nothing to do. I won't make a sound. You won't even know I'm there, or anyone else for that matter. Please, please, please let me go!" She pouted, making it hard to say no.

With a sigh, I relented, "Okay, you can come. Be silent, be swift, and be careful. Don't let the rest of the Scouts or any of the creatures see you."

Yori grinned and leapt behind a tree. She waved me on and I ran back to the group, Yori hidden behind me somewhere. As we searched, I kept an eye on the spots I had last saw Yori. It wasn't until I heard her scream when I realized that I hadn't saw her in a while.

A Scout pointed to where the screams were coming from. I went to look. There I saw Yori and she was trying unsuccessfully to pet an unicorn.

I screamed at her, "Yori! No! Get back here! They eat flesh!" Yori didn't listen. She kept asking walking towards the nearest one, her hand outstretched. For a moment, it looked like she was going to be able to pet it. That moment ended when the unicorn drove its ridiculous looking horn into her heart.

A blood-curtling scream emitted from her mouth. The unicorn started to eat her. David and an another Scout held me back as I watched Yori get eaten. There was blood splattered everywhere as the unicorn ate her hungrily. I was dragged away from the scene and transported back to camp. By the time we got there, my throat was raw from screaming.

It affected me the most. Yori, she was my daughter. My first and only child. She had looked just like her father. She only had my brown hair and green eyes. When she died, I lost it. I should've stopped her. I should've saved her! I should've-

"Jewels! Jewels! What's wrong? Come on, Jewels, say something!" David yells. I look around. I'm on the jungle floor. Some Scouts surround me, others stare at me from afar with pity. David is at my side, worry sketched on his face. I push him aside.

I reassure him, "David, I'm fine. Don't worry. How did I get on the ground anyways?"

He glances around before relying, "I don't know. One second, I'm talking to Rhia, and the next, you are on the ground screaming your head off. I think you should go back to camp. You might need a break today." He gives me a sad, puppy dog look.

"David, I'm going. Nobody can stop me. I'm just fine. Let's just go," I say. I walk forward. After a few years, I embarrass myself by realizing I left my supplies back with Sarah. I go back and grab them, avoiding David's eyes that keep staring into the back of my head, as if they are trying to see what I am thinking. I turn, give David a fake smile, and go with the advancing group of Scouts.