| |
Macy’s chest heaved up and down, but she looked down to where she started and couldn’t help but be proud of her progress. High in a tree now, the forest seemed less oppressive than before. She hadn’t climbed out of the canopy, but the undergrowth on the forest floor didn’t exist up here, giving her a clearer view than she’d had so far of the forest.
She didn’t love the plan Miriam had come up with, but as reckless as it seemed, none of them wanted to leave Usa to die.
Macy tried to see Miriam and Kim below, but only saw the occasional shaking of the leaves or rustling of a branch. She could have attributed such things to animals or the wind just as much as her friends, so it gave her no comfort that they’d managed to make it into position. She decided to give it a few more minutes to be safe.
The minutes passed by slowly, Macy constantly checking Miriam’s phone to see how much time had passed. The forest seemed abnormally quiet, as if it swallowed the sound from all the living creatures within. Given her particular part in the plan, she couldn’t help but wonder if somehow all the animals knew that, for right now, they needed to give her the stage.
After the clock finally ticked down, Macy opened the sound player that Miriam had pointed her to, made sure the volume on the phone was as high as it would go, then hit play.
