Page 44 of Forever is the Sweetest Con
“No, it was definitely a winter thing.”
“So maybe it’s seasonal. Like, the sap won’t flow in the summer.”
I can’t be sure, but this feels very logical. “But why would they have us come out here and do this, if everyone is going to fail?”
Kei laughs. “Because hot people doing dumb shit makes for good TV?”
I groan. “I think you might be right.”
Kei wiggles the spout out of the tree trunk and drops it into the empty bucket. “Why don’t we just work on getting out of here.”
“I’m afraid I won’t be much help with that. I have zero survival skills,” I tell Kei.
He laughs. “It’s a good thing you’re cute, then.”
“Yeah, but cuteness won’t get us out of here.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got some skills.” Of course he does. “The first thing we have to ask ourselves is what do we know about our location?”
“Right.”
“So, what do we know?”
“I don’t know.”
He laughs again. “We know that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, right?”
“That sounds vaguely familiar.”
“So think about the camp. Where does the sun set?”
I pause. I can picture Kei and Damian tossing a football on the beach, backlit by a purple and pink streaked sky glowing over the lake. “From the beach!” I’m thrilled to actually have an answer. “The beach is west.”
“Exactly. Which means the camp is west too, so we need to go west.”
“Okay.” I wait. Am I supposed to know which way is west? “So, where’s that?”
Kei looks up, shielding his eyes with his hand. “By the position of the sun, I’d guess that way,” he says, pointing toward some trees and dirt. “But let’s make sure. We need a stick.” He bends over and starts searching the forest floor. “Help me out. It has to be pretty long, at least a foot.”
I start to wander, keeping both Kei and Teddy firmly in my sight. I spot a long, mostly straight stick and hold it up to show Kei. “Perfect,” he calls. “Bring it over here, where the ground is flat.”
He’s in a clearing, where there are no trees. He drives the stick into the ground. “See how the stick makes a shadow?” I nod. “We’ll put this rock that I found at the end of the shadow. Then, in twenty minutes or so, the shadow will have moved enough that we can determine an east to west path.”
I give him a blank stare. “I’m going to have to trust you on this one.”
“You can trust me,” he says, brushing back a lock of hair that was stuck to my sweaty face.
“And now?” I ask.
“And now we wait.” He clears away some twigs and rocks, making a space for us to sit. He sinks down and pats the ground beside him. As I lower myself, I let my hip graze his.
“Patience isn’t my strong suit.”
“I’ve gathered that.” He leans into me, showing me he’s just teasing.
“Let’s do a lightning round,” I say, leaning back into him. “To pass the time. I’ll ask you five questions, and then you get to do the same for me. Alright?”
“I’m in.”
