God's Will

Ryan and his three closest friends were going on a road trip to an old abandoned farm in the country.  Erin was sitting in the front seat beside him, looking out the window, and humming along with the radio, while Marc and Joan were playing “With My Little Eye” in the backseat.  The scenery rolled by, yellow fields, hills and flat land, changing to dark green forests and back to fields.  The sky stayed bright and it was a nice spring day.  Erin moved in her seat to change the radio station, mumbling something about the static, and how dusty the radio was.  Joan and Marc, at the same time, plugged their noses and groaned about the farm stench.  Ryan chuckled at them, “You know, you guys are such wimps.  You’re complaining about the smell of a farm, while we are going to spend the next few days there..”1

“Shut up, Ryan ”  Joan snapped back, while trying to hide her laughter.  2

“Yeah, just because we aren’t used to smelling horse..junk.. All the time doesn’t mean we can’t handle it, right Joan?” He nudged Joan with his elbow.3

“Uhh.. Yeah, right.  He’s right you know, Ryan.”  Erin rolled her eyes and cranked up the radio, and they all stopped talking.4

“Ughh.. Turn this crap country off, Erin.  It’s breaking my ears  ”  Marc complained.5

“..and I never got to tell her, that the boy showed me the truth.  In crayon red on notebook paper, he’d written, ‘Me and God love you,’” Erin smirked as she sang along to the song loudly, and Joan chuckled at the wincing faces Marc made.  6

They arrived at the old farm later, around 7:30pm.  The sun was just setting and the sky was a beautiful array of colours, light orange and pink at the top, slowly turning purple, and dark orange at the bottom.  Plus the blue sky, and the clouds lighted up in the colours.  Erin and Joan got out of the car, and looked up at the sky.  7

“Wow, I’ve never seen the sky like that before.”  Erin said, staring at the sky.8

“Yeah, me neither.”  Joan replied, amazed.  Marc and Ryan got out of the car, and were unloading the trunk onto the ground.  They carried a few bags over to where the girls were standing and looked up at the sky as well.  Ryan slowly put the bags on the ground at his feet, and wrapped his arm around Erin's waist, pulling her closer.  She leaned her head in on his shoulder.9

“It’s beautiful,” he said.10

“Yeah.. It is..” she replied, still dazed by the sky.  Marc walked back to the car and unloaded the rest of their things, adding them into the pile Ryan started.  He slammed the trunk closed and they all snapped out of their daze, and turned around to look at what made the noise.  Joan went over to the pile and picked out her back pack, and put it on her back.11

“So, does anyone know where we are sleeping exactly?” Joan asked.12

“Well, there should be a house where the people stayed, or a barn, or something.  And if there isn’t, I brought a tent.”  Ryan responded quickly.13

“A tent!  You better hope we find that house.”  Joan said.  Ryan smirked and Erin just rolled her eyes, while picking up her bags.  Marc and Ryan picked up the remainder of the things, and they started looking around for a house or barn.  14

The land was many acres, some of dead field, overgrown grass lands, and forest.  There was no house that any of them could find, and only a small bit of the barn left, with giant holes in the roof, and mice running around.  15

“Well, I guess we’re tenting it tonight.”  Marc said.  Joan grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest.  Erin and Ryan shrugged.  The sun was set now, and it was dark out.  16

“Here good?”  Ryan asked.17

“Works for me,” Erin replied.  Marc nodded, none of them paid attention to Joan’s protest mumbles.   Ryan and Marc dropped their bags, and Erin knelt down to open the bag with the tent in it.  She pulled out the tent, pegs, and water cover.  “Guys, there’s no rope.”  Erin said.  18

“What? Really?”  Ryan asked.19

“No, I’m lying.  What do you think oh smart one?”  Erin replied sarcastically.  Marc chuckled, and Joan tried to stifle her laugh.  20

“Well, I’ll go back to the barn and see if they have any rope there in a minute, let’s wait and see if there is anything else that might be there first.”  Marc said. Erin and Ryan nodded.  Joan sat down on the ground and folded her hands in her lap. 21

They laid out the tent on the ground, and put the pegs and the posts in.  All they needed now was the rope for the rain guard.  They had checked the rest of their supplies and everything else was fine.  “Well, I’m gonna go check the barn now.  Anyone want to come look with me?”  Marc asked.22

“Nah,” Ryan said.  Erin shook her head.23

“Fine!  I’ll go.”  Joan said, as if it was a big deal that she was going for a walk.  Erin watched them walk away.  Ryan snuck up behind her and he threw his hands over her eyes, grinning as she shrieked.   Erin turned around and hit him in the chest playfully.24

“Look,”  Ryan said, pointing up at the sky.  She looked up.  It was pitch black out now, and the moon was big and bright.  The sky was full of stars, “Nice, eh?”25

“Yeah.. It’s never like this in the city..”  Erin said, now amazed with the stars.  Ryan was looking around for some wood, to start a fire.  Erin stopped looking at the sky, and looked over to him, “need any help?”  She asked.26

“Sure.. Could you get my pocket knife out of my bag, it should be in one of the little pouches on the front?”  27

“Yep.”  She walked over to his bag, opened the pouch on the front and stuck her hand in, fishing around for the knife.  She grabbed it and handed it to him, then went back and zipped the pouch back up.  She stood up, “Anythin—“28

“AHHHHH!!!!!” Joan came running back to them, screaming and waving her arms in the air.29

“What?!?!” Ryan jumped up from what he was doing, and stood beside her.30

"Marc's dead!" she sobbed, "and so is..." 31

“Marc’s dead?!?!?”  Erin screamed loudly.  Ryan started to run in the direction that Joan came back from, Erin following him, and Joan shortly afterwards.  Ryan stopped when he didn’t know which way they went anymore, and waited for Joan and Erin to catch up. 32

“Which way?”  Ryan asked Joan.  She pointed to the left and started to speak but Ryan took off before she could get in a word.33

Ryan arrived in front of the old, beaten up barn, and stopped outside.  He waited for Erin and Joan, who were only a few feet away, to see him.  When they got there, Joan started panting and hyperventilating.  “Its alright, relax.”  Erin told her.  34

“Yeah, calm down.”  Ryan said.  He looked into the barn slowly, trying to find where Marc was.  He saw a rope hanging from the ceiling, and something hanging from it.  He cringed and turned around to face Joan.  “What happened, Joan?”  He asked her.35

“Well.. I was waiting out here because there are mice in there, and just ew.. Then I heard him say he found the rope, and then.. He screamed.. And I called his name but he didn’t answer.  I looked in, and there he was..”  Joan said.  Erin didn’t want to look.  She was staring up at the sky again.  Ryan was nervous, but he opened the door and looked back in.  36

“Guys, watch my back, please.. Just in case, you know.”  Ryan said.  Erin looked at him with big puppy eyes, and he didn’t want to meet her glance because he knew if he did he wouldn’t go in.  But he had to go in, for Marc.  Joan nodded.  Ryan slowly stepped in, one foot at a time.  Erin watched his every step, and Joan watched the outside around the barn.  Ryan walked closer to the thing hanging from the ceiling, every step hoping that it wasn’t Marc.  Erin saw a shadow, something moved behind Ryan.37

“Ryan!!!!” She whispered, “something’s in there..”  She started to get nervous and scared.  Ryan turned around to face her.38

“It’s alright, I’m fine.” He reassured her.  Erin looked both ways, left, then right, looking for what could have made the shadow.39

“Probably just a mouse,” Joan whispered behind Erin.40

“I hope,”  Erin said.  Ryan was still getting closer, being very cautious and looking around before every step he took.  Erin and Joan could hardly see him anymore, “Ryan!!  I’m coming in with you!!”  Erin whispered, loud enough for him to hear.41

“No!  It’s ok, really.  I need you to stay out there.” He whispered back to her.  There was a creaking noise, Ryan snapped around to see where the noise was coming from.  It was pitch black, and he couldn’t see anything.  Erin looked towards the noise as well, but couldn’t see.  Something dove out and tackled Ryan from the side.42

“AHHHHHHHHHH!”  Ryan and Erin screamed at the same time.  “Oh my god oh my god oh my god!!!”  Erin yelled, she ran inside the barn to find him.  43

“Hahahahaha...”  Marc stood up, dusting off his pants.  “That was a good one.  We got you guys good!”  Erin glared at him and went to help Ryan up.44

“Marc!  Do you know how stupid that was, I was really worried and that could have just gave me a heart attack.  Besides, now I can’t ever wear these pants again!!”  Ryan yelled.45

“What happened to your pants?”  Marc asked.46

“You scared the shit out of me!!”  Ryan said.  Marc chuckled and Erin was clinging to Ryan.  Joan came into the old barn, and was laughing hysterically. 47

“Woo!  Good idea Marc, even if it did ruin Ryan’s pants.” Joan said, and stuck her tongue out at Ryan and Erin.  48

“Yeah, good idea guys.  Way to be real jerks and everything.”  Erin said, and walked out of the barn. Joan sighed and rolled her eyes, while Marc tried to stop laughing.  Ryan watched Erin leave, and then he walked out behind her.  She was sitting down on an old fallen tree stump, staring at the ground.  Ryan sat down beside her.49

"You know I'm fine, right?  They just played a trick, just a joke,"  he said.50

"Yeah, well, it was a mean joke, and it wasn't funny at all by the way.  Were you in on it too?"  She asked, still staring at the ground.51

"No, I had no idea they were planning that.  Besides, we can always get them back,"  he replied, grinning a little.  She sighed.  "Is everything ok?"52

"Not really..."  She said.53

"What is it?" 54

"Well, I was really scared when he jumped out at you.  I mean, I didn't want you hurt or anything.. it's just.. well, I don't know.."  She trailed off.  He moved over closer to her and took one of her hands in his.55

"It's ok.  I'm fine, everyone's fine.  You don't have to worry about anything."  He tried to reassure her, and he hoped it was working.56

"Thanks..” She said, he smiled.  They stood up and started to walk back towards the tent.  It was getting chilly out, and leaves and grass crunched under their feet as they walked.  57

When they got back to the tent, Ryan went back to looking for wood to start a fire with, and Erin was trying to organize the blankets and bags inside the tent.  The tent was small, only made for two people to sleep in, they were going to be crunched in there.  Erin snickered as she could hear Joan complaining about it already.  “What’s so funny in there?”  Ryan asked.58

“Oh, I’m just thinking about how much Joan’s gonna complain when she sees the size of this tent,”  Erin said, grinning.  Ryan laughed.  59

“I think I have enough wood, you want to do the honors?”  He asked.60

“It depends what they are..”  Erin said, raising an eyebrow.61

“I’m talking about lighting the fire!”  Ryan said.  Erin came out of the tent and laughed at the face he made.62

The next morning Erin woke up curled in a ball in a far corner of the tent.  She sat up at saw she was at everyone’s feet.  Ryan’s feet were by her head, and Marc was beside him, with Joan halfway on top of Marc.  She laughed quietly at what Joan would say when she woke up.  She crawled over to the door and tried to unzip it quietly.  Unfortunately, the zipper got stuck.  In the process of trying to unzip it, she woke Ryan.  He sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking around to see where he was.  He smiled when he saw Erin struggling with the zipper, she hadn’t noticed that she had woken him up.  “Need some help with that?”  He asked, she jumped back a little, startled.63

“God, you just gave me a heart attack,” she said, turning to him and giving up on the zipper.  “Help is good.”  She admitted, and he crawled over to try and undo the zipper without waking Joan and Marc.  64

“Looks like they had fun,” Ryan commented on the two.65

“Yeah, and if they didn’t Joan is going to kill someone for not waking her up to get off of him,” Erin said, smirking.  Ryan got the zipper open, “aha! There we go.”  She said, crawling out of the tent.  He crawled out behind her.66

“Did you have a good sleep?”  He asked.67

“As good as it gets curled up in a corner,” she replied, smiling.  The sun had already risen and the sky was bright and there were few clouds.  There were buds for flowers and berries on all the trees and bushes.  Erin started to walk down a path way, “It’s so nice here, it should be like this at home.”68

“Yeah.”  Ryan said, walking beside her.  There was on rose on a bush, the rest were just buds.  He picked it off and handed it to her. 69

“Awww.. How cheesy.”  She said, smiling, but kept it.70

“I know.  Don’t you love my cheesiness?”  He asked, sarcastically.71

“You’re cheesiness is great.”  They kept walking, looking around at all the plants and talking about random things that came to mind.  By the time they got back to the tent, Joan and Marc were up and sitting around a fire that they started. 72

“It’s about time!  Where have you two been?!?”  Joan jumped up when she saw them walking back.  Erin rolled her eyes and sat down, Ryan went back in the tent and came out with his bag.  “Fine.”  Joan said, sitting back down.  Erin’s stomach grumbled. 73

“Ohhhh.. I’m hungry.  What time is it?”  She asked. Joan looked at her bare wrist and shrugged, Marc stared into the fire, and Ryan pulled a watch out of his bag.74

“It’s.. 11:30,” he said.  “We can go to a restaurant now, and then come back and go exploring after.”  He suggested.75

“Works for me,” Erin said.  Joan nodded.76

“Sounds good,” Marc said.  They all started to walk towards the car and piled in.   Ryan was driving, Marc in the passenger seat.  Erin and Joan sat in the back.  Ryan backed out of where they parked, and the drove down the road.  They pulled into the parking lot of a small restaurant none of them had ever heard of before.  Erin ran inside, after complaining about how starving she was the whole way.  The other three went to the washroom while Erin got a table.77

They arrived back at the farm about two hours later.  Ryan shut the car off and they all got out.  “So, everyone ready for exploring?”  Marc asked. 78

“I am!”  Erin said.79

“Me too.”  Ryan replied.  Joan didn’t answer.  Erin, Joan, and Marc started to walk towards the opening of the forest, while Ryan put his bag into the tent.  He jogged slowly to catch up with them while they waited for him.  80

“This better be good, and I better not get a sunburn, or a rash of any sort! Oh, and if I get bitten by any bugs you are all in for it..”  Joan whined, and they all tuned her out eventually.  They had started to wander away from each other, in two separate groups.  Erin and Ryan, and Joan and Marc.  81

“Think they are going to try some stupid trick again?”  Erin asked as they walked.82

“Nah.  I think the next one will be much bigger, and we won’t expect it.  They won’t do it now, because they know we are expecting it.”  He said.  Erin nodded.83

“It makes sense.”84

“Of course it does.  I said it, didn’t I?”  He said, with a big grin on his face.  Erin glared at him and tried not to laugh.  They kept walking through the forest, they came to a clearing and decided to take a break.  Erin sat down in the grass and Ryan laid down beside her, looking up at the trees.  85

Joan and Marc were still walking.  Marc found a little path off of the trail they were walking on, and he started to turn down it.  The trees were much thicker down that trail.86

“There’s bugs here!” Joan yelled.87

“Yeah, there’s bugs on the other trails too, you know.”  Marc said.  Joan swatted a mosquito that landed on her arm.  “There, now there’s one less bug to worry about.”  88

“Ha.  You think you’re so funny mister funny pants,” she said.  He shrugged and kept walking.  After a little while the trail got wider and there were less trees.  The area got louder, and the ground had more stones.  “Oh, look!  A little waterfall!!”  She screeched, running and stopping at the edge.89

“Wow, I didn’t know this was here.”90

“Of course not, that’s why it’s called exploring.”  She said, sticking her tongue out at him.  He rolled his eyes and stood beside her.  He moved a little bit closer to her. “What are you doing?”  She asked.91

“Oh.. Nothing..” he said, and pushed her in.  He started laughing hysterically.92

“AHHHHHHH!!!!! I’m going to KILL YOU!!”  She screamed loudly.  Marc kept laughing and fell over onto the ground with laughter.   She got out and sat on him, soaking his clothes. 93

“Hey!”  He said, and tried to push her off.  “That’s cold water!!” 94

“Hey! I know, why don’t you go for a swim and see how cold it is!!”  She yelled.  He laughed and gave up trying to push her off, she obviously wasn’t moving.  95

Ryan and Erin started walking, when Erin heard someone scream, “did you hear that?”  She asked.96

“Yeah..”  Ryan said, confused.97

“Joan must’ve saw a bug or something.”  Erin chuckled at her own joke.  “JOAN!!!! Where are you?!?!”  She yelled.98

“Away from us, annoying Marc!”  Ryan said, jokingly.  Erin laughed.99

“Yeah, really.”  She agreed.  They kept walking, and the trees started to clear up.  The ground started to turn from hard to sand, and Erin noticed when her feet were sinking into the ground.   “What’s with the sand?”  She asked.100

“Maybe there’s a beach or something,” Ryan said.  Erin looked at him through the corner of her eyes.  “What?” He asked, grinning.101

“Don’t get any ideas.”  She said, and started running farther into the sand.  He walked at the same pace behind her.  When he finally got to where she stopped running, she was standing at the edge of a small water fall.  They were on the top of it, and downstream on the other side, Erin was pointing at Joan and Marc.  “Look! Look!”  She said. 102

“Yeah, you found them.  But the water fall is better.”  He said.  She smiled and sat down.  He sat down beside her and she leaned against his shoulder. 103

It had been a while since they became a group of four, and were walking back when Joan started to complain again.  “You know, I have been bitten at least a million times today.  And I even killed a bunch of them too!  Those damn bugs, I’m telling you, they are evil! Eeeevil!!!” 104

"Oh God," he yelled, "please, not again. Anything but this..." 105

“Hey, at least it’s not as bad as before, Ryan.”  Joan said.  Erin smirked and Marc just kept walking.106

“Yeah, well, I have a suggestion for you Joan.”  Ryan said.107

“Oh? What’s that?”  She questioned.108

“SHUT UP!!!!” He said, smiling.  Erin and Marc laughed.  Joan rolled her eyes and stopped talking. 109

They all kept walking, Joan and Marc talking about the things they had seen, and done.  Ryan and Erin walked along slowly behind them, hand in hand, both smiling.  Ryan stopped walking, and Erin stopped beside him.  She looked at him questioningly.  He picked a rose off of a rose bush and handed it to her.  She laughed and held it in her other hand.  They continued walking, and tried to catch up with Joan and Marc.110