Page 14 - HEF Pen & Ink 2020

LIFE’S A BEACH
by Jenna Green
consumed her. ———
Time stretched long. The mere minutes
of walking felt like hours in the cold night. Reah couldn’t remember anymore why she was walking.
“We found you in the barn lying next to Faith under a horse blanket. You have extreme hypother- mia and have been unconscious for at least five and a half hours,” Tyler said solemnly, as he fought back his tears and concern.
“Where am I?” she mumbled incoherently. Her face was numb. Then she saw the porch light gleaming through the darkness. She stumbled toward its warm glow, though not really knowing why. She just knew she had to get to it.
“We thought you were dead,” Will said quiet- ly; tears rolled slowly down his cheeks, “The doctors said it’s a miracle you’re still alive.”
A groaning noise coming from the barn rang through the silence, breaking Reah’s fixation on the light. Somewhere, hidden in the fog of her mind,
the noise rang a bell. The memory squirmed its way through the mist until it rang clearly: Faith was in la- bor. With great effort she peeled herself off her quest for the light and stumbled up to the barn. With numb hands Reah fumbled with the door knob until finally it opened. Faith was on her side in the stall, her sides heaving. Reah slumped against the stall, unable to
do anything but watch. Soon a wet, black foal slipped into the straw, and Faith stood up and started to lick it clean. The barn offered no respite from the cold, only some protection from the wind.
“We found the foal under the blankets too.” Tyler added, “She made it through the night.”
The foal will freeze to death without a blan- ket. The words echoed startlingly clear in Reah’s dazed mind. “Blanket... banket...” Reah’s mind fum- bled with the words until she spotted the large horse blanket and liner sitting on the feed bin. She forced herself over to it, but her fingers wouldn’t close around them. Reah flung her numb arms around them and used their weight to drag the blankets along. Fumbling with the latch, Reah’s numb fin- gers finally got the stall door open, and she dragged the blankets inside. Falling to her knees on the dirt floor, Reah did her best to cover the damp foal with the horse blanket and liner. She didn’t have enough strength to get back up.
“I’m so sleepy... Jus’ a lil’ nap...”
She felt like she was floating. The night sky sparkled in front of her. The stars swirled and drew closer. She gave in to the blackness, and the night sky
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Reah felt warm. She opened her eyes to a bright light. As her eyes adjusted and came into focus, she saw that she was in a clean, white room. It looked vaguely familiar, but her mind was still fog-
gy and her whereabouts evaded her. Suddenly, Reah noticed two familiar faces sitting facing her across the
room. “Hey, Tyler! She’s waking up!” Will exclaimed, nudging Tyler. They came and stood by her bed, and Reah recognized her brothers staring down at her.
“Where am I? What are you doing here?” she managed weakly.
LOOK WHAT I FOUND
by Garrett Glazier