"Come on Serena, just a little farther!" Meena huffed over her shoulder as the two girls pedaled slowly up a rocky slope one warm, sunny afternoon.
Serena didn't reply, just continuing to strain slowly uphill.
Soon, Meena had reached the top of the slope. She was wearing a black bodysuit and a white windbreaker, which blew slightly in the breeze as did her hair, which she had in a long ponytail so as not to get it tangled. As she turned to look back at Serena, she smiled through brand new sunglasses and shouted encouragement to her friend.
"Almost there Serena, don't quit on me now, you can do it!"
Easy for her to say. Serena thought, to tired to speak, but still giving it her all. Well, at least Rei isn't here to make fun of me.
Getting a sudden boost of anger, Serena gave it everything she had, standing and pedaling with all her strength. With her pink windbreaker fighting the breeze, she finally crested the hill.
"All right!" Meena exclaimed, smiling and helping her off the bike. "I knew you could do it."
Serena sat heavily on a log on the side of the trail, opening and draining her water bottle with authority.
"Hey easy." Meena said, sitting down next to her. "You drink that too fast and you'll regret it later."
Putting the water bottle down reluctantly, Serena slowly began to catch her breath.
"Yeah... I know." she managed slowly. "I'm... just tired."
Meena smiled.
"Hey, not bad for a first timer, I've never seen too many people get up the moderate slope on day one."
"Mod...moderate?" Serena gasped in disbelief.
"Yup, the easy trail is over there." Meena said, pointing toward the right side of the trail to a small group of younger children riding up a small hill.
Serena just blinked and looked back down the hill they had just climbed, suddenly smiling in amazement as she realized what she had done.
"Wow!" she said. "You mean this is the normal course?"
"Yeah, and you made it up by yourself, not bad for a beginner." Meena said, taking a small drink of her water.
Just then, the sound of another biker drew both girls gaze toward the path they had come from, drawing an excited gasp from Serena.
"Darien!" she said as he easily slowed to a stop next to her on the trail, his smile making it look easy.
"Hi Meatball head, Hello Meena." he said, looking around.
"What are you doing here?" Serena asked, standing and replacing her water bottle back on her brand new 21 speed mountain bike.
"Well, actually I was invited to show you something." he said, tightening his red biking gloves and helmet. "If you two are rested up, we'll go there."
Meena agreed and hopped on her bike, a green 15 speed.
Serena got on her bike and giggled as Darien sped off down the trail at breakneck speed.
"Meet me at the next junction!" he yelled over his shoulder as he disappeared around a corner.
"OK Serena, I have to tell you a few things before we go." Meena said.
"First off, this part is easier, but also more dangerous, you'll be going much faster and can get hurt easier."
Serena's smile faded into a look of concentration as she nodded that she understood.
"OK, one last thing." Meena said, pointing to her hand brakes.
Remember, when you need to slow down, use the right ones first, then the left, got it?"
"Right then left right?" she repeated.
"Yeah, you got it." Meena said, smiling again. "Ready?"
"Yeah, let's go!" Serena said.
Meena stood and got a good push and then took off down the hill almost as quickly as Darien had before her.
Serena took a second to gather up her courage and pushed off, soon coasting quickly downhill and enjoying the wind in her face.
After she had traveled a bit, she had to start pedaling as she went over two or three small hills in the trail. As she rode toward a fourth one, she saw a little boy over the hill and knew she had to stop or she would hit him. She thought quickly. Left then Right, got it.
She jammed the left brake handle and her world went upside down before it went black.
"Hey lady... are you OK?"
The voice was distant, and quiet, but it had a sense of urgency that made Serena worry.
"Lady? I'm sorry, are you OK? Talk to me."
Serena slowly opened her eyes. As her vision slowly blurred into focus, she saw the little boy who had been in the road kneeling over her, his eyes looked fearful and damp with tears. She tried to smile, despite the pain in her body, and she looked around and noticed it was getting dark.
"How long have I been here?" she asked the boy quietly.
"I dunno, I can't tell time, but it's been a long time." He shrugged and sat down next to her, staring at the ground.
"I think your friends were looking for you, but I don't think they could hear us down here."
"What do you mean 'down here'?" Serena asked, trying to sit up and only causing herself more pain.
"Well, you fell down the hill... and I followed you to see if you were OK, but I couldn't carry you back up there." he said, slumping over slightly.
"Hey now." Serena said, smiling again as best she could. "You did what you could."
"But I shouldn't have been in the middle of the trail." he replied, tears welling up in his eyes once again.
"None of this is your fault..." Serena paused for a second, "What's your name?"
"Jason" he replied solemnly "My name is Jason."
"My name is..."
"It's Serena." he replied just as solemnly "I heard your friends calling for you from up there."
He pointed to a cliff high overhead, and as Serena squinted in the fading light, she saw the ruined pieces of her brand new bike and realized how far she had fallen.
As she tried to remember what had happened, she felt herself being covered in a rough blanket.
"It'll get cold soon." Jason said softly as he gingerly began to cover her up.
As she looked down at herself, she realized she was only wearing her spandex bodysuit, and it was torn in a few places.
"Where did my jacket go?" she asked him carefully.
He finished covering her up and then looked at her for a moment.
"I had to tear it up and use it for bandages... I'm sorry."
Serena smiled. "You did good...thanks."
Jason smiled too, and sat down next to Serena and began to sing. As Serena listened, she soon grew tired and fell asleep.
When she awoke, she felt her blanket being moved and she opened her eyes quickly.
As she looked around, she noticed Jason had cuddled up in the blanket and had gotten it wrapped around him in his slumber.
OK, enough laying around, I gotta get both of us outta here
She started by slowly moving her arms, testing her mobility and seeing how badly hurt she was. After she realized her arms were only slightly scratched and bruised, she began to try her legs.
Well, the left leg seems OK She thought as she felt it gingerly and bent it at the knee, moving it to see what she could do. Now for the right leg.
The second she touched her right leg, pain shot through her whole body and she bit her lip to keep from screaming, laying back and gasping for air.
"I bet it's broken." Jason said from next to her.
He sat up and stretched, unwrapping the blanket and placed it back over her with gentle ease.
"I'm going to see if I can get to your water bottles, you stay here."
Before Serena could say anything, he walked off into the the woods and disappeared.
Serena lay quietly for a few hours, wishing she could at least sit up and drink something, or maybe have a snack...
That's it! She gingerly began looking over the remains of her windbreaker for the small treasure inside.
As she dug around, she found it, a chocolate candy bar.
As she busied herself with opening it, she heard leaves rustling and turned to see Darien walking toward her.
"Muffin!" she yelled, trying to sit up.
"Serena!" he jogged over and knelt next to her, hugging her carefully so as not to hurt her. "Are you OK?"
"I'm OK, but my right leg hurts, I think it's broken."
"Let me see." he said, tossing off the blanket and gingerly looking over her leg.
Serena bit her lip again as his gentle touch sent waves of pain through her.
"I don't think it's broken." he said, smiling. "But let's not take any chances."
Darien took out his cellular phone and dialed it, frowning a moment later and putting it away.
"No signal, the hills are breaking up the signal."
Serena suddenly remembered the small boy that had helped her, and she began to babble everything at once to Darien, who quieted her with a finger on her lips.
"OK, slowly now." he said, sitting down to listen as Serena explained everything that had happened to her since she had wrecked.
After she finished a while later, Darien just shook his head and blinked his eyes.
"What is it muffin?" Serena asked, thinking she had said something wrong.
"There's no little boy."
Serena blinked. "What do you mean? I saw him, He gave me the blanket! He slept next to me last night!"
Darien quieted her once again and dug in the bag he had hiked in with, pulling out a newspaper clipping and handing it to her to read.
Serena read the article for a few minutes as Darien quietly splinted and wrapped up her leg.
"You mean..." she said finally, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Yup, he fell off that same cliff about 10 years ago... my guess is he didn't want you to end up the same way he did and wanted to help you out so you wouldn't go through what he went through."
Serena just smiled through the tears, looking off into the woods where the boy had disappeared to.
Thank you Jason... wherever you are now.
As Darien helped her up to carry her to the road so he could call for more help, she thought she saw a small shape smiling and waving, and she couldn't help but stare, tears falling down her cheeks and a smile on her face.
Darien didn't seem to notice, but Serena didn't care either way, she had learned one thing from all this, friendship knows no bounds, in this life or the next.
"Darien." she said before he started the long walk.
"Yes Serena?" he asked quietly, already knowing what was coming and waiting for the words.
"Do you think... he's happy... wherever he is?" she asked, the tears still flowing down her smudged and slightly scratched cheeks.
"I think so." was all he said.
"Good." was her only reply as Darien covered her in the blanket Jason had given her.
And so they went, back to the road, and from that day forward, Serena never forgot that day, or the little boy who had helped her... and she kept the blanket in a small box in her closet so she would never forget.