The sun rose, shining in my eyes. I groaned and opened them. I felt Ellie stir next to me as she yawned and whined. She’s only a few months old. She still trips over her puppy feet when she runs, and she steps on her ears and will flop right over if you let her.
We lay on our bed of grass as the sun rose. When it just started to peek over the treetops, I stood up and dismantled our shelter. No one could know that we’d been here. I’d taught Ellie to wait to go till we were near a stream to do her business. We were supposed to be dead. Everyone saw us tip our raft. We fell in at the rapids. We were pronounced dead after three days of almost endless searching. I wanted to be dead, like really dead. I didn’t want to live anymore. I’d just lost everyone. My best friend to I don’t even know what, my sister to college, my brother never came out of his room anymore, my mom worked all the time and my dad slept during the day because of his night shift. I really had nobody. Except Ellie. Ellie had been mine since the day we got her, my birthday, she was a gift from my aunt. I did everything with her. When we were in school, I sneak her in and just buy a new backpack when she couldn’t hold it anymore. I was afraid that if I left her home my dad would kick her out. He didn’t want any other dogs except hunting dogs. He especially didn’t want a dog that was part wolf.
I could hear footsteps coming closer along with the call of an eagle. Whoever it was, they weren’t worried at all about being seen or heard. It sounded as if they wanted to be noticed. I climbed up the nearest tree with Ellie in my backpack.
After a few drawn out minutes of crashing through the woods, a boy emerged. He was dressed in all leather, like the people you read about in those old western stories. He had moccasins tied around his feet and a gun slung over his shoulder. He had brown hair that ran shoulder length and I couldn’t see his eyes. In one hand he held a bushel of rabbits. My stomach growled and I tensed. He hadn’t heard me, or if he had he didn’t stop. He was whistling but I didn’t recognize the tune. Ellie was rustling in my pack and I was sure he could hear her. He had to be a hunter or a trapper or else he wouldn’t have the rabbits swinging by his side.
He’d heard her. He stopped walking and looked around, but thank goodness not up. He disappeared into the other side of the trees walking much quieter now. I waited. I didn’t think he was really gone. Ellie had started whining now. She hadn’t yet gone to the bathroom and I knew she was asking permission to go. I had to let her. I climbed out of the tree and let my over sized puppy run.
The boy stepped out of the trees to my back. He made no noise as he walked. I stood straight up and whirled around crouching in case he was going to take a swing at me. I whipped my legs at his knees to try and take him down but he’d already stepped out of the way. I crouched there panting and sweating glaring at him. He looked at me with a hard look on his face. I think his eyes were supposed to be brown but they were glassed over and milky white. He was blind.
I stood up so that I matched his eye level. Neither of us spoke, we just stood there looking. Ellie had come back with her fur raised and a growl in her throat due to this stranger and my actions.
“Hush Ellie,”I said.
The boy smiled. He then gave a whistle and an eagle dropped from the sky screaming and landed on his shoulder. The birds gold eyes looked right at me piercing through my clothes. I felt as if it could see into me. It looked well fed. I guessed that it was the boy’s companion just as Ellie was mine.
“His name is Aiden. I found him when he was just a fresh eaglet. He’d fallen from his nest. I could hear his screeching from my camp and was going to put an end to it. He sort of grabbed onto my pants with his beak and I decided to keep him,” the boy said. He had a voice like caramel. It was a kind of voice that you would be willing to hear anything said by.
I was shocked. I hadn’t heard anyone’s voice but my own in 3 months. And he was beautiful. Especially with Aiden on his shoulder. He leaned lazily on a nearby tree and stared straight ahead. I wonder what he saw, was it all black or was it colors in his imagination without names? He could name them anything he wanted. Nobody would know, they’d see one color and he’d see another.
I finally found my voice and said, “this is Ellie, she’s my dog. My aunt gave her to me.” I sounded so stupid. I grew red from embarrassment. Ellie looked up at me when I said her name and then laid down with a contempt sigh. I knew that she was eager to leave. We’d never stayed this long after we woke up before. But I didn’t want to leave Mystery Boy and Aiden. Mainly Mystery Boy but I guess I could throw the bird in there too.
Mystery Boy gave a small grin and stuck his hand out. “My name is Adam.”
I took his hand saying, “I’m Claire.”
We shook hands. He had callouses all over his knuckles. After we stopped I pulled my hand to my chest cradling it.
“It was nice meeting you Adam, but I have to go.” I motioned for Ellie to heal and started to walk away.
“I wouldn’t go that way Claire,” he said in what sounded like a bored tone. I stopped walking and looked at him. He was smirking and stroking one of Aiden's wings.
“And why not?” I questioned.
He didn’t say anything for a while and I thought of walking away. “There lie the cave that chews and swallows. Once you’re in it, there’s no way you’ll get out of it. It’s stone walls will crush you until you pop. You’ll go crazy in there.”
I started at him. I think he’s insane already. “What do you mean?”
“I said exactly what I meant. The cave that chews and swallows. Although, sometimes it doesn’t even chew.” He said deep in thought.
“You’re insane. Come on Ellie.” We walked away from Adam and Aiden. He hadn’t made another sound and when I looked back they were gone. I sighed and then looked straight ahead and ran into his chest. Somehow, he’d gotten in front of me. Aiden had taken flight again.
“Please Claire, don’t go that way.” His voice was now in a whisper. He looked at me, almost as if he really could see. “Come with me?”
      I couldn’t go with him, but God how I wanted to. He would turn me in and I’d have to go back to my old life. But...I could have a whole new life out here. Nobody would find me. I would be alone. Well, with Adam. I blushed at the thought.
“I-I can’t Adam. I’m sorry. I’m not even supposed to be alive. I’m dead, but not really.” Why was I telling him this? He didn’t need to know. He can’t know.
“I’m not either,” he whispered, looking at the ground.
After a moment of silence, he continued. “I ‘died’ when I was young. I don’t really remember it all that well. I just remember waking up and being blind. I sometimes think that this is all a dream. That one day I’ll really wake up and Aiden will be gone. I can’t go back to the life I used to live.”
I was shocked. He had tears running down his face like water on a car window. I was so tempted to wipe them off, but restrained my arms. It was weird how much we had in common. I hardley knew this boy, yet he was telling me about his whole life.
“I ‘drowned’. My family and I were rafting and I fell in the rapids and ‘drowned.’”
Ellie had started to whine again. She was anxious to get on the move. I knew I should be too, but I couldn’t leave Adam. His presence was like a magnet keeping me in place. I wanted so badly to go with him. What would my parents say? Oh right, I didn’t have parents. They didn’t care.
I took his hand in mine and said, “lead the way.”
He smiled showing a row of perfectly straight teeth. After a signaling whistle for Aiden, we started to walk. Ellie kept growling at the strange boy she didn’t know. I sent her ahead to scout the ground.
“Are you really blind, like can you see anything?” I asked. I knew it was wrong, but I was curious.
He stiffened. “I can only see dreams. Aiden is my eyes. He knows that I can’t see. I’m not sure how he does but he knows.”
Ellie was standing with her hackles raised and the fur on her back standing straight up. Something was in the bushes or trees ahead of us.
“It’s nothing,” Adam assured me. He was listening to something, his head was turned to the side and he had a frown on his face.
“Aiden is my eyes,” He said smiling. His smile was beautiful. I couldn’t stop looking at him. Aiden cawed at us and we both smiled. Ellie had strayed from the bushes and was sniffing along the trail, when suddenly she caught the scent of something and took off. I gave one short, sharp whistle and that sent Aiden into a fit of dives. He was aiming towards Ellie.
“Adam, do something!” I shouted. I didn’t care if anyone heard me or saw us. If Ellie got hurt I would kill Adam, and his stupid bird.
Adam just sat on the ground with a smirk on his face. I grabbed his shirt collar, shaking him. “Do. Something,” I said through gritted teeth.
Aiden suddenly changed courses and came to the aid of Adam. He got his claws caught in my hair and his beak tore open my cheek. At this point I felt like crying. The blood ran down my cheek like salty corn syrup. It was thick and warm. I didn’t move to wipe if off. Aiden tore at my hands and everything that I moved.
“Claire. Claire, Claire. What a mess you’ve gotten yourself into. Do you really think that there’s a cave that chews and swallows?  I thought you were smarter than that,” he said shaking his head.
I stood tall, c***ed my arm and swung. I felt something shift in his mouth and I saw bloody spit fly. Good I hope it hurt. I called for Ellie and ran. Aiden followed us in the air for a little before falling back to his master’s call.
“Curse him.That stupid face of his, that stupid smile. Why had I gone with him?” I thought.
Ellie and I ran for half the day. I was so scratched up, and the cuts on my hands and face were burning. I knew I was going to get a fever but I didn’t care. We stopped at mid-day to rest. Ellie flopped down beside me and sighed. I looked at her. Aiden hadn’t hit her unless it was under all her fur. I checked everywhere but she showed no sign of discomfort. Her skin under her fur was pink just as it always was.
I decided to stay there for camp that night. I hoped I was far away from Adam and Aiden. My face was throbbing where Aiden had cut me. I walked to the creek and looked at my reflection. I was a mess. Dried blood was caked around my eye and the whole left side of my face. I had a black eye on the verge of a dark purple. My hair was tossed around and in knots. The trees were laughing at me in the water. I could here them. I was going into a black tunnel. I fell face first into the water and sank to the bottom. I let the water carry me without fighting it. I felt the blood being washed off, but nothing would soothe the burning sensation in my cheek.
I heard Ellie barking but it was faint like she was far away, and I heard the call of an eagle. I thought it sounded familiar but couldn’t quite place it.
I felt arms around my waist and then I was being lifted from the water. I was placed on the shore coughing up gallons of water. My eyes faded to black and I felt something lie up against me.
“Hi Ellie, you silly puppy,” I said drowsily. I was delirious. I knew I should sleep but I couldn’t. I had to make a shelter and a fire. I had to feed Ellie and I had to eat still too. I tried to get up but I felt hands on my shoulders gently pushing me back down to the ground.
I fell asleep with Ellie at my side and the feeling of warm hands on my shoulders, and woke up to a heart monitor beeping by my head.
“Adam? What’s going on?” I said trying to get up. I had tubes all around me and everything was too bright. This wasn’t right. Where were my trees and the stream, where was Adam and Aiden? I knew they followed me. They would’ve had to. Adam wouldn’t just leave me like that. Would he?
I fell back asleep with the heart monitor beeping in my ears.
Adam was looking down at me and smiling. Aiden was perched on his shoulder. “Good morning,” he said.
He let me sit up and handed me a piece of flattened deer meat. I grabbed it out of his hand took a small bite. It was good, but I couldn’t take things from him. He tried to kill me with a pet eagle. I touched my face expecting to feel a scab running from the corner of my eye to the corner of my mouth, but it was just smooth skin. I crawled over and looked at my reflection in the running water. There was nothing. My hair was fine, my face was smooth and the blood was gone. My arms were free of scratches. What was going on? This wasn’t right. I should be bleeding, I’d just gotten my face torn apart by a stupid eagle. My arms should hardly be hanging together because of the trees, but here I was. I was whole, my skin was smooth, soft, and scratch free. Adam was acting as if nothing had happened.
“She’ll be okay Aiden. She just doesn’t want to wake up yet,” he was saying as he stroked his wings with his index fingers.
“What are you talking about?” I said sharply. I was furious with him. He knew I was awake, he’d given me something to eat. 
He didn’t look at me. He continued to stroke Aiden’s wings. It was almost hypnotizing. I felt myself drifting in and out of a dreamlike state. I was so tired but I couldn’t fall asleep. I tried to fight the waves of exhaustion that washed over me, but they were too strong. They had taken hold of me and were pulling me back with them into their ocean of sleep.
The heart monitor was still beeping steadily. There were blurry shapes all around me. Some were wearing pink suits, some in green suits. Where was I? I reached up to my face and felt smooth skin. Someone reached out yelling my name over and over. It was too much. The lights were too bright, the noise was too loud.
“Claire, it’s okay to wake up now baby. You can wake up now. Everything’s over. Wake up sweety,” a kind voice was saying. It was a women’s voice.
Someone was leaning over me trying to put a mask over my face. I kept turning my head hoping they’d get the hint that I didn’t want it. They finally gave up after pressing a few buttons to my left.
Everything was finally coming into focus. I could see faces and the room we were all in. In the corner near the window was a boy. He looked exactly like Adam. I tried to stand up but firm hands restrained me. I was calling his name but all he would do is smile and shake his head. Aiden was perched on his shoulder. He walked to the side of my bed and held out his hand.
“Goodbye Claire, it was nice meeting you.” He reached down to pet the head of a growling Ellie, “and to you as well Ellie.”
I couldn’t say anything back. My throat had closed up like a gogurt tube after it had been squeezed.
He began to run. He was going to shatter the window, but no! What was this? He and Aiden had sailed through the window without it shattering and then Aiden grew and picked Adam up and the two of them flew. They got higher and higher till I could no longer see them.
They were gone. I hadn’t even gotten to say goodbye, I wondered if I’d ever see them again. I hoped so, I wanted Adam to apologize for sending Aiden after me. I wanted to know how he’d really become blind.
“Claire, what are you looking at?” a women asked trying to follow my line of sight. How could she not see them? It was a giant bird and a flying boy. She wiped my face, tears were streaming down my face. 
“Goodbye Adam,” I whispered.