I heard Mom scream and come running toward us. I didn't get up and neither did Charlie. We had no energy to do anything. Only then did I realize we'd be in trouble. BIG TROUBLE. I guess it had been pretty dumb to stand right on the edge of a million-mile drop. My insides were still shaking, but I had to come up with a plan. A good one.
The way I saw it I had three options. Option one - deny everything. Option two - say a gust of wind blew me off the cliff. Option three - say there was a big landslide.
Charlie and me were covered in red dirt, so denying everything probably wouldn't be smart.
Could a gust of wind blow me off a cliff? Maybe. But today there was no wind, so that mightn't be the best option.
A landslide, I decided, just as Mom and Dad kneeled in between us, was the best option. And it was sort of true. Mom held our hands. Her eyes were wet. She couldn't even speak; she was so upset. I felt sorry for her.
I managed to raise myself up on my elbow. "It's okay, Mom. We're fine. I was checking out the view when the ground underneath me disappeared and I fell. I grabbed the tree and then Charlie and those guys saved me. They're real heroes."
Dad patted us both on the shoulder and got up to talk to the guys who'd helped Charlie save me. Mom began to cry.
It was the third time on this holiday that she'd almost lost me forever. I guess losing your favorite son must be the worst thing ever.
A park ranger wearing a hat and a brown uniform appeared with a black bag. He acted like he was important. First, he checked Charlie's pulse. Charlie was real white, as though he'd seen his own ghost. The ranger asked him questions and Charlie barely answered him. It was weird. Wasn't I the one who'd almost died? Why was he carrying on like this?
A crowd of people had gathered close by. I stood up because now I felt okay, except my shoulders felt like they'd almost popped out of their sockets.
A few minutes later, the ranger had finished with Charlie, who was now sitting up. He spent thirty seconds checking me out and announced that I was fine. Then he asked us what had happened. Dad, Mom and the two guys who'd helped crowded round us.
I was sure glad Charlie didn't feel like talking. I said real fast, "Charlie and me were checking out the view - it's real good from just here - I was just standing there thinking how amazing the canyon was and how if Dad had been with us he would've been carrying on about water carving out the whole canyon millions of years ago - he always does that - when the ground beneath me disappeared and I fell down and down and I thought I was going to die - but I wasn't too sad because it was a better way to die than being eaten by a croc - and then my legs hit a tree and I managed to grab onto a branch - I thought my hands were going to slip and I'd fall right down to the bottom and splatter all over the place - and the birds and snakes and spiders would eat me. And then what would go in my coffin? But then, Charlie yelled out to me and those brave men lowered him down by his ankles and Charlie took my hands and hauled me up. And everything is okay." I took a big breath.
The ranger nodded. Dad slapped Charlie on the back as if to say well done. Mom gave me one of her funny looks, which meant she wasn't sure whether to believe me. Then she said, "Max, show me where you were standing."
I swallowed. "It'll be hard to tell because of the landslide."
Mom, Dad and the ranger went over to the edge. They looked down at the tree sticking out from the side of the cliff.
The ranger turned to me and said, "You must have a guardian angel. If you'd fallen anywhere else you'd be dead."
I liked the idea of a guardian angel. I bet she had long blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes. Maybe she'd saved me from the crocs as well.
"MAAX!" said Mom. She pointed to a whole lot of footprints in the red dirt. "Do these footprints belong to you and Charlie?"
I swallowed again. Charlie and me looked at each other. We each knew what the other was thinking. The red dirt showed up the tread marks of our trainers real good. They only had to match the tread marks of our trainers to the footprints and they'd know we were standing right on the edge. But it was okay, because I had a plan.
I walked over real casual. First, I dragged my feet where Charlie's footprints were and then I walked over all my footprints and kicked at the ground - all before Mom realized what I'd done.
"What footprints?" I asked.
"Maax." She sounded angry. "So you were standing too close to the edge. How stupid can you be? You're not immortal, you know."
A second later, Dad must've realized what we'd done and he gave us one of his killer glares. That meant he'd deal with us later - in private, not in public, because if anyone saw him lose his temper they might think he wasn't fit to be a father.
The ranger shook his head. "Boys," he said, "you've got to be careful. We expect people to use their common sense. Just last week, the rescue chopper had to fly in to save a man who'd got too close to the edge and fallen - just like you. Except he wasn't so lucky. He fell onto a ledge over the other side of the canyon and he died shortly after he was picked up. Such a waste."
"Wow," said Charlie, who now sounded normal. "I've always wanted a chopper ride."