The Adventure at Hancock by TINA V (manga ereader txt) 📕

and said, “Hey, are you hungry guys? Why don’t we go to the other side? There’s a picnic table where we could eat our sandwiches and pastries.”

“That’s a good idea,” I said. “I could hear my stomach moaning and rumbling.” I added, laughingly.

“You’re right,” Nathan said, taking a drag.

We all picked up our backpacks, moved leisurely and went to the other side of the hill. We positioned ourselves in a vacant picnic table where we could see the beautiful view of the mountain. Tricia took out the goodies she brought from her grandma. She handed each of us a sandwich, tartlet and can of soda.

Nathan and I nodded our heads in fondness as we took the first bite of our snacks. We laughed when Nathan licked his thumbs to wipe off the mayonnaise on his lips.

Staring at the windy park, I remembered the incredible things that had happened here at Hancock. If the good looking guy with no name was here, what would we talk about? I wondered. I lifted my soda and took a sip.

**********

Hancock Hillside is the only mountaintop and recreational park in their town where families and friends can spend time together. There are picnic area, children’s playground, medium size man-made lake, and eight mile hiking trail. The trail is located at the higher grounds of the mountain where you can see the beautiful falls.

Over the next hour, we decided to go for a hike. It would take about 45 minutes trek to reach the peak; then we could stay for an hour to enjoy the view and some picture taking, and perhaps, another hour to go back to the main park entrance. It was almost late in the afternoon, and the park would be closed before sunset.

“We better get goin',” Tricia said, grabbing her daypack.

“Yeah, it’s getting late. We need to be back before the sun sets.” I said, munching the last bite of my sandwich and holding on to my bag.

Nathan was nodding his head, in agreement with us, while drinking his soda and grabbing his backpack.

So off the trail we go as we continued to chat and tell our stories with each other. We headed directly to the swan lake before we proceeded to see the falls. There were paths that are too steep, and we normally lined up; Tricia first, then Nathan and I was on the last. I could hear my heart was beating fast. We were almost there, I thought with a sigh.

Later, I saw the beautiful swans when we reached the lake. My jaw seemed to drop down from my mouth when I watched them swam gracefully. It was like they were dancing to the sound of the chirping birds and blowing of the winds. I saw Nathan, similarly, couldn’t take off his eyes from the lovely scenery. He seemed to swallow a bit of his saliva. We were both amazed of the magnificent view.

“Hey guys! Let’s take some pictures!” Tricia shouted, splashing his hands on the lake.

“Yeah Nathan, take a picture of Tricia and me,” I said, handing him my Olympus Fe7010 digital camera. I sat beside Tricia and we both hug each other in a pose; just like the old days. Nathan positioned for a solo shot; then we took turns in taking photos.

As a matter of fact, we already planned to post it in our Facebook page. We were sure our classmates would be envious with it. haha . . . , I thought with a naughty smile.

We went next to the falls, which was only a quarter mile away from the lake. Again, we took turns in taking our pictures. The water was a little bit cold now, but we still plunged in for a swim. Anyway, we brought some extra clothes and handy towel with us. We had fun; hence we eventually lost track of the time. It was almost dark when we noticed that it was time to go home.

We hurriedly got dressed, picked up our backpacks and started to walk down the trail going back to the main park entrance. “I hope we’ll make it before the sun sets.” Tricia said, looking quite worried. “Grandma will really get mad if we don’t come home before dinner.” She said while trying to call her grandmother through her cellphone. There was no signal from our spot. “No! Damn it,” she grumbled.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be there soon.” Nathan told her, tapping her back shoulders.

“Let’s just walk fast,” I added with a slight guilt feeling of not taking track of the time. Grandma said earlier that Tricia was lucky to have us as her friends, I thought. Oh no, Grandma would really be disappointed with us, I murmured to myself.

We were almost two miles away when all of a sudden I heard Nathan cried out, “Tricia, don’t trip!”

I was shocked and started to feel my hands were shaking. I couldn’t see Tricia anymore. Nathan kneeled down to reach for her hand and shouted, “Whatever happens, just hold on to my hands!”

I got my flashlight at the side of my bag, pointed it towards Nathan and I saw Tricia holding on to a branch, while grabbing his hand. I couldn’t stop trembling as I watched him reaching for her. She accidentally slipped from the edge because she didn’t notice the large stone in front. “Oh my God! Tricia, hold on!” I shouted with a stuttering voice. I felt I almost peed in my pants.

Finally, I placed my arms around Nathan’s waist and dragged him backwards to help pull Tricia up to the side. Trying to keep our balance, I stood my feet apart and pushed it hard on the ground to put some force. I felt as if someone was holding my waist to pull her up, but I just ignored my feeling. Small stones started to fall at the cliff. I could hear she was already crying and my heart was beating even faster; but I still yelled, “Don’t worry Trish! We’ll get you out of there!”

It took us almost 15 minutes to save Tricia from that terrible accident, but it seemed like it was a lifetime. Indeed, it was an ordeal. All of us were perspiring, speechless, eyes closed, and stock-still. Tricia was crying; at the same time, we all couldn’t stop shivering. At first I thought, it was because of that sudden fear of falling, but after a half-hour of lying on a bone-numbing ground, I felt like we were actually freezing

to death.

**********

Meanwhile, Grandma was busy preparing dinner. She fixed the two guest rooms earlier that day. She knew Tricia and her friends would be very tired when they come home. She was hoping they still would have time to chitchat tonight. Probably not; or maybe, they could if she would sleep in her room. She hasn’t seen her for over a year; and she really missed her a lot. She remembered they used to go to the Hancock Hillside to play soccer. They would end up running around the field, and sometimes they also would go for a hike when Tricia was only 10 years old. She had so much fun together with her only granddaughter.

Every five minutes, she looked at the antique grandfather’s clock at her dining room. In any minute, they’ll be home for dinner, she thought. Tricia as always had been on time with her schedule. I knew she was excited to eat chicken pot pie for dinner, she told herself.

The phone on the side of the kitchen countertop suddenly rang. She stared in panic at the caller ID number. Who might this be? She wondered, feeling weird insider her. She tried to calm herself down, telling herself that everything’s fine with Tricia and her friends.

She lifted the receiver and said, “Hello, Stevenson’s residence.” The woman on the other line introduced herself as Mrs. Parker; she’s the mother of Shaina. She was hoping to speak to her daughter, just checking if she was okay.

She told her that anytime they’ll be home for dinner, and will tell Shaina to return her call. Then the phone line went off. Shaina’s mom might have been worried, too. It’s getting late; what might have happened to them? Nuh, nuh, nuh, she tried to put off those thoughts out of her mind.

She went to the living room, turned on the TV and watched the famous show - CSI New York. She became more anxious because of their crime scene. It was so realistic that it induces her to imagine something might have happened to Tricia and her friends. They might have been kidnapped, she thought. Nuh, nuh, nuh, not again. She said to herself with a sigh, trying not to feel worried.

After twenty minutes, she stood up, went to the kitchen and got herself a cup of coffee. It’s almost 9:00pm and she had never been late, she thought. "I guess I have to report it to police; they might be able to help me find them." She was now thinking aloud.

When she called their town police station, they told her that she needed 24 hours before they could declare a person missing and start their search-rescue operation. She hung up the phone, sat down and stared at the corner of the wall. She felt like crying, but she doesn’t want to continue to think that something bad happened to them.

I guess I needed to wait a little more, she thought, praying for their safety. She lifted her cup of coffee and took a sip.

**********

Stuck in the dark, I suddenly came to my senses. It seemed like we fell asleep for quite a while. Oh no, I thought, we’ll never make it now. It was dark that I couldn't see a thing; I felt scared. So I shove Nathan’s shoulder to wake him up.

“Nathan, wake up!” I said, feeling my hands were still shaking. I certainly hadn’t expected this.

Nathan, seemed to be awaken from his terrible nightmare, quickly sat up and said, “Huh? What?” while looking around, turning his head at both sides without a blink of an eye.

“Hey, it’s me, Shaina.” I said, holding his arms with both of my hands to calm him down. “We better get going ‘coz it’s getting late,” I told him. I handed Nathan my flashlight; then I instructed him to check
on Tricia.

Tricia looked even more confused; although, she wasn’t crying anymore. Nathan helped her stand up while I picked up her things. She couldn’t walk straight without limping; she might have hurt her legs badly.

Nathan placed his arms around Tricia’s waist to support her; whereas, Tricia placed her arms around Nathan’s neck, holding on to his hand at her waist.

Tricia told me to get the other flashlight; so I opened her bag and took it. Now, I was in-charge to lead the way because