Monday, November 13, 2023

Quincy tossed the coin and readied his hand for the catch. Tanna lunged forward for the interception. He threw his hands up and then attempted to reach for his prize possession. Tanna shoved the coin into her pocket as she held him off. Each coin toss determined their destination. Tanna secretly knew Quincy had rigged the game to avoid one location. It was the only thing he had control over.

"Give it back," Quincy said. "I need it."

"You sound like a child." Tanna had tried to ignore his decision-making method for too long but couldn't leave this one up to a game of chance. She glanced at the timer on her watch. "I'm taking the lead this time."

Tanna pulled the map from her pack and laid it on the ground. She used her pen to cross out several areas. Quincy paced as he mumbled under his breath while avoiding eye contact.

Tanna shook her head and continued crossing out areas. "I don't care how mad you get." She knew they were running out of time. She circled two spots on the map and called Quincy to her side. Tanna’s eyes fixated between the two locations before pointing a finger at one. "We're going here."

Quincy kicked up the dirt beneath his feet and looked to the heavens.

"Tanna, you promised we wouldn’t.” Quincy violently shook his head. “We can’t go there. You circled the spot past Lunar's Ridge, too; that's where we're going."

Tanna put the map away and gathered her things. "Lunar's Ridge is a four-day hike. We'll never make it in time."

"There are other spots that are closer," Quincy said.

Tanna grabbed her brother's pack and shoved it against his chest. "We navigated close enough to those other areas, and we didn't find anything. We don't have the time to get it wrong again."

"But the paths by the lake..."

Tanna placed her hand on his shoulder and kissed his forehead. "I know what it means, but you know what's at stake."

Quincy closed his eyes while holding tightly to his pack for security. Tanna couldn’t help but soften the intensity in her eyes. This wasn’t what she wanted, but it was time to grow up once and for all. The others were willing to die without knowing if venturing out was worth the risk, but Quincy was Tanna’s responsibility, and she couldn’t watch him suffer while hope still existed somewhere.