CYOA Page 51

[lumy12]

Page Fifty-One

It feels like it's been a while since Joel called out to you, but in reality, it probably hasn't been that long. Like not even fifteen minutes. You really ought to just wait for him to come back. Maybe something caught his eye that he wanted to check out and he misjudged how long it would take you to wash up. Or maybe he just needed to go take a dump! That can take a while sometimes.

You wait patiently, first in the sun as you continue to dry off, then in the shade of a large tree (you're warm enough, and you really don't need to get a bad sunburn on this trip). It's a beautiful day, with a few puffy clouds dotting the bright blue sky and a gentle breeze stirring the air. Too nice a day for anyone to die, you think. But of course, that's not true. People die every day. Not Joel, though. Nope. And man, am I going to give him a piece of my mind when he gets back... how would HE like it if I left him waiting here, not knowing what I was doing or when I'd be back?

You try to read the book you brought, but find yourself reading the same paragraph over and over without comprehension. You just can't concentrate. You try to tell yourself stories to distract yourself from unpleasant thoughts... and that works a little better, but never for very long. You take a stroll along the riverbank, back and forth... the peaceful 'babbling' of the water should calm your mind, but it doesn't. You need to be doing something... Oh, that's what I can do -- clean more water! You can use river water.

Joel showed you how to work the water purifier gizmo, and now you're glad you were paying attention. Unfortunately, you're not low on water yet, so you only have a couple jugs to fill. You usually don't watch the thing do its work (not like there's much to see), but today, you do. When it's done, you know that that means a half hour has passed.

Still no Joel.

By mid-afternoon, you begin to rethink this decision to obey Joel by staying put. Obviously, something's happened. Joel can take care of himself better than anyone you know, and you have to have faith that he'll be okay. If you leave, you risk not being here when Joel returns, and then if he goes looking for you... maybe in the wrong direction... it's a big world. What if you can't find each other? And he did tell you to stay... whatever it was, he felt he could handle it, and you know he wouldn't be reckless.

But... fuck, if you keep waiting here, you're either going to go stir-crazy or be sick with worry over Joel. Probably both.



If you continue to wait like Joel said, turn to page 97.

If you decide you've waited long enough so fuck what he said, turn to page 101.

Comments

Carlos

[(Anonymous)]

okay, read this one.