7 yrs, Gone and Forgotten

Chapter 8: Obstacles

      The next morning came quicker than expected and our morning routine was even faster. Scott, Theo and Mandy left before I did, and left me with Lance and Lane to take me, which was okay with me. I had a feeling that Scott’s pride was hurt just a bit and I didn’t want to push the issue, so not having to spend the morning with him was perfectly fine with me.

     Lance and Lane took turns poking fun at me all the way to the mansion about my outfit. I didn’t see anything wrong with it, I needed to make sure I could move freely, so leggings, tennis shoes and a loose tank top seemed like the best options. My hair I braided and put up in a neat bun, I wasn’t sure why I did it, but that inner voice screaming at me told me I should, so instead of spending an hour arguing with myself I did it anyway.

      We pulled through the back gates of the mansion land and came to a stop in the field. We were the last to arrive and I didn’t miss the smirks I got from the girls as I stepped out with my overly large goon squad on my heels. I guess I would probably smirk too if I was looking at a girl getting out to take this test and she had her bodyguards with her. I waved Lance and Lane off as I stepped into the mix of the girls and quickly found Eva and Mandy.

      “Hey guys.” I whispered.

      Eva grabbed my arm and smiled at me, “Morning. Ready for this?”

     “You bet.” I whispered back, and Mandy just rolled her eyes at us.

     “I can’t believe you talked me into this.” Mandy whispered.

     “Hey this was your idea, but I wasn’t about to back out after Scott’s comments.” I whispered back.

     “Yea I know, my friend went from being quite and withdrawn to bold and confident.” She huffed.

     “You love me, and you know it.” I smirked back and she just smiled at me.

     “Good morning, ladies.” Scott shouted from the front. “Today is the obstacle course. The things that you will face today will show us how fast you can navigate through a difficult situation if need be. Take your time, but remember you are also still racing. The first ten to finish will move on to the final round of testing tomorrow. Now if everyone will line up in a straight line facing the tires. When you hear the whistle blow you will begin. Theo, Lance, Lane, and I will also be running with you, if at anytime you need to bale out, or become injured we will be there to assist. Pace yourselves, this is a physically demanding course.”

         From what I could see of the obstacle course standing there in that line, it felt like something you would see on television at a bootcamp, and I became excited. The whistle blew and we sounded like a herd of horses sprinting out of the start gate at a horse race. Up until that point my mind was racing, I was confident and self-doubting all at the same time, but when the whistle blew all those thoughts disappeared, the crowd disappeared and every ounce of my body and mind went into autopilot mode without a drop of self-doubt.  

       The first obstacle was easy, we marched through small tires, and you had to make sure not to get your feet tangled up in the rim of the tire, I felt like a cat light on my feet as I passed through them with no problem at all. The next one up was a rope ladder, I climbed to the top and then danced across the high beam over to a rope swing like a gymnast. Coming off the rope swing I landed just on the other side of the pit and rolled down landing on my belly to crawl through a small makeshift tunnel. I came to my feet quickly on the other end of the tunnel and followed the arrows that led through the small grove of trees on a pine needle layered path.  The path was about a half mile long, and I gracefully jumped the logs that were placed ever so often, all different heights, as I came out of the grove of trees, I could see a wall about twenty feet high that you had to scale and drop from the other side. I hit the wall at a dead run and didn’t think twice about scaling it and leaping from the other side to the rope swing which swung me to a series of slanted walls strategically placed, that had to be jumped from one to the other until you reached the ladder that scaled to a tall tower. Standing in front of the tower I could hear voices behind me, but I couldn’t risk the time to stop and turn around as I shimmied up the ladder and stood tall on the tower. From there was a zip line that went to another tower, laying below my feet was the harnesses that had to be put on before taking the zip line, but I just kicked them to the side and grabbed hold of the bars as I leapt from the tower and allowed the bar to carry me swiftly to the next tower. Scott was screaming below about being an i***t and that I was supposed to put the harness on but all I could do was laugh and let that feeling of freedom course through my veins.

        Landing firmly, I stood on the other tower and looked back, I could see the other girls had finally caught up and Theo was on the other tower getting the harnesses ready for them. Eva was close to the front of the other girls, but I didn’t see Mandy anywhere. I decided to not waste anymore time as I took a running leap and grabbed the free fall rope allowing myself to swing to the ground. As I hit the ground softly and bounced back into a run position, I looked over to see Scott staring at me in shock. I just waved and made my final steps across the finish line before I came to a stop and turned around to watch the others.

       Watching them I noticed that I didn’t seem to be out of breath, I was sweating a little, but I felt so calm, so peaceful, I felt alive. Looking around I spotted the grove of trees I had ran through and I couldn’t help but smile, I knew what I wanted to do, they were calling to me and I needed to do it. I stepped over to one of the chairs and slid my socks and shoes off and placed them neatly underneath it.

       I looked over my shoulder and I noticed everyone was concentrated on the other girls at the towers and I knew I wouldn’t be missed for at least five minutes, so I snuck softly through the grass as I relished it tickling the souls of my feet.

     The trees were soon within my reach, and I smiled as I dug my feet into the soft dirt and leaped at the first limb I could, grabbing it and swinging my body into an upward motion gliding from limb to limb until I reached the bulk of the branches as they intertwined together amongst the trees.

     Leaping, jumping, running, and swinging from limb to limb I knew I had done it before, I knew it was a part of who I was, and it was a part that I loved and didn’t even realize I had missed until that moment. I finally found a large limb near the top of one of the tallest trees that I decided to rest on. Taking a seat and leaning back against the trunk of the tree I took that deep breath; you know the breath that you feel like you haven’t had in a lifetime. I let it all in and slowly let it out.

         I closed my eyes and let the breeze blow through my hair as I smiled into the leaves. “This is my spot,” a deep voice carried through the air like a whisper. I opened my eyes and looked around but there was no one there.

        “Sorry I didn’t see your name on it,” another voice drifted through the air, and I froze as I realized it sounded like mine.

        “I come here to think,” the deep voice whispered again as the leaves whistled in the breeze. “Please don’t go,” it begged. I closed my eyes and there waiting behind my eyelids was the ghost of a man, the shape was manly like, but I couldn’t make out much more except those mesmerizing sea green eyes looking deep into my soul. “Don’t go,” he pleaded.

       My eyes shot open, and I felt my heart skip a beat, small tingles erupted through out my hand, starting where the scar was in my palm. I felt them spread through my body like cold water being poured over me and just as quick as they came, they were gone. My heart was beating erratically, and I gripped my chest as I closed my eyes again and took long deep breaths.

     “Calm down Lee. Calm down, I don’t know what that was, but we can’t figure it out in this state.” I chanted to myself as I felt my body begin to come back to normal. “Okay, how about we join the others, I think that’s enough for today.” I told myself as I slowly started my decent from the trees.

      By the time I got to the bottom of the tree I was lightheaded and dizzy, I decided to rest my back against the tree and sit for awhile on solid ground as I gained control of myself. I had spent seven years dreamless, seven years of no relocation of any parts of my past life, seven years of making a new life, new friends, and new memories. I didn’t know why now, of all times to drift back, these flashes were coming. And while they felt so much like memories, they also felt so foreign to me, like someone watching a movie.