Take Me Home

• Amy O'rourke, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2015

Vince lay across Julian’s lap, unconscious. There was blood slowly seeping from a large wound above his right eye, where he’d struck a sharp stone on his way down the cliff face.
“Vince…” Julian’s voice trailed off into the abyss.
“Vince.” He repeated, with more urgency. He grabbed his best friend’s shoulders and shook him gently. Vince opened his eyes, still dazed from what had just occurred. Overcome with relief, Julian pulled Vince close to his chest and held him tightly. The pair maintained this embrace for a moment that seemed like an eternity. Vince finally broke the silence.
“What happened?” he asked slowly, beginning to notice the pain in his head.
For the first time Julian looked up at their surroundings. Scattered around the rocky ledge where they had landed were bits of stone that had once made a magnificent lookout spot at the top of the cliff. Julian looked directly above, to the place where they had been standing which was now no longer there, before turning back to Vince.
“It just crumbled away,” he tried to explain. The shock was beginning to reach him.
“Let’s take this trail around to the stream and try getting help.” Julian gestured towards a narrow dirt track that snaked its way down and around the cliff face.
Julian stood up slowly. His whole body ached and he was plagued with bruises, but he put his arms around Vince to steady him as he too got up. They held their arms around each other’s shoulders and tried taking a step. Vince put his left food down, but grimaced in pain, both his legs very nearly giving way.
“You okay?” Julian said, holding his friend close.
They hobbled down the path, Vince on one leg, with Julian for support. It took them nearly an hour to go seemingly nowhere from the rocky shelf on one side of the hill down to the stream just around the bulge in the cliff face. They sat at the edge of the shallow water that cascaded across stones and pebbles, creating a soothing ripple in the water. Julian managed to remove Vince’s boots and got him to rest his sore ankle in the icy fresh stream. Julian soaked his shirt in the water and used it to clean out the gash above Vince’s eye. As he did so, Julian began to ponder, how had he been so lucky? Was it fate that had let him escape injury and remain strong enough to help Vince and see them both home safely? Would they even get home? Nobody knew where they were, or even that they had gone.
Vince interrupted Julian’s thoughts. He had gone pale with exhaustion and his injuries weren’t helping matters. He spoke up softly and said what Julian already knew, “I’m tired”. Vince leaned into Julian and fell asleep with his head on Julian’s shoulder.