I'll Carry On When the Valley's Deep

[Laurels]

((Noah Whitley continued from Let's Awaken, By the Day))

In the minutes since Noah ran from Nancy, he continued to wonder if each passing second was going to be the last. He kept turning back in case the blue-haired bitch had changed her mind and decided to come after him. From the looks of it, Nancy had decided otherwise, but that still left him uneasy. He was still trudging along the shoreline, praying he was going the same direction Rene and Blair had gone. However, in his confusion, he couldn't tell if he was actually following the right set of footprints in the sand. He wasn't sure if they were heading away from the shoreline, towards the shoreline, or were from someone else who had been in the area.

What didn't help Noah was the fact that every time he tried to think, the searing pain in his leg reminded him how screwed he was. Finally, just as he was reaching the end of the shoreline, he gave up trying to run, and made his way to the nearest flat rock. He sat for a moment, panting, before he decided to look at his leg.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," he muttered as he slowly rolled up his pants leg.

Noah grimaced as he saw the wound. Noah had gotten hurt as much as any other rowdy and hyper child, but he never had a whole chunk of leg taken out. If he wanted to, he could probably fit his pinky finger into the hole to fill it up. Of course, there was no way in hell he'd try that out, so he got to first aid.

Noah didn't know a whole ton about first aid. He knew the general idea- clean the wound, apply antibiotics, seal it up- but practicing it was not in his wheelhouse. He pulled out a bottle of water and the first aid kit and got to work. He removed his shoe and the blood-drenched sock as well. He grimaced at how red and wet the sock had gotten from the blood dripping down his leg. He tossed the sock into the sand, then got to work.

After a few minutes, Noah was sure he did it right. He wiped the wound with a wet cloth, applied some alcohol, and wrapped bandages around the wound. He was about to roll the pants leg down when he felt it still damp with blood. Noah sighed.

"Great. Time to have a 'make it work' moment."

Noah took the scissors out of the first aid kit and started to cut through the fabric of the jeans. Now his pants stopped a few inches above his ankles. Seeing how ridiculous it looked compared to the other leg, he also cut the other leg short. There was still a chance of getting screwed by exposure, so he couldn't cut them all the way off or make shorts out of them. Noah sighed, looking at his legs and the bare foot. He flexed his toes, then buried them in the sand. He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"Fuck," he quietly muttered.

Noah looked around the area. Still no Nancy, and still no sign of anyone else. Blair and Rene might not have doubled back after realizing he wasn't with them. He couldn't blame them. If he was swapped with one of them, he might have assumed Nancy got them, and that going back ran the risk of getting killed by her. They were probably elsewhere by now. He could return to the cabin or the dorms in hopes of finding them.

Noah stared out at the water. For the first time since he woke up on this island, he was truly alone. He wasn't awake for long before Maria and the others showed up, and throughout the first three days, he always had someone to talk to. Noah rubbed his eyes and sighed. He then put his hands down and looked slightly up. This was starting to kill him, and he needed something to put him in a better mood. Thus, he began to speak.

"Hey. Do you want to hear a joke?"

Noah didn't hear a response. There had to be a camera around there somewhere, so someone had to be listening.

"So a guy stops at a truck stop and goes into the restroom. He walks up to the urinal and begins to pee. As he does, a little person walks up and starts to use the nearest urinal. The man looks over and realizes the little man has a huge cock. Like, he's basically holding it over his head so he can relieve himself in the urinal."

Noah raised his right arm and bent his hand down.

"Like that."

Noah lowered his arm.

"So the man is amazed by this little person's big cock, but the little person notices this. He asks the man if he's amazed by his cock. The man says yes. The little man asks if the man would like to know how he got such a big johnson. The man says yes."

"'You see,' the little man tells the man, 'I'm actually a leprechaun. I have magic powers, and I can use my powers to give you a big cock like mine.'"

"The man seems incredulous, but asks how. The little man says he can cast a spell, but he needs something from the man."

"'If you want a big cock, you have to have sex with me first,' the little man says."

"The man is taken aback. He's straight, and he doesn't want to do it."

"'Don't worry,' the little man says. 'No one has to know. We can just go into one of those stalls and get it done quickly.'"

"The man starts to weigh his options. On one hand, he's not sure if he can have sex with a man, leprechaun or no. On the other, he would like a big cock and the awesome sex he was sure to get from it."

"'Sure, why not?' the man says, and the little man leads him into a stall."

"So they start to go at it, and soon, the man is balls deep into the little man. As they fuck, the little man is curious."

"'Say, what's your name?' he asks the man."

"'John.'"

"'John, eh. And how old are you, John?'"

"'32.'"

"'32. And yet you still believe in leprechauns?'"

Noah smiled and waited for the applause. All he heard was the sounds of the waves crashing on the shore and the distant sound of birds chirping. Noah let out a long sigh.

"Thank you, thank you," he said. "Shout out to my Dad for telling me that joke. I hope that's how you remember me. If not..."

Noah shrugged.

"You'll find something better."

Noah stood up, brushing his hands against his pants. With the fabric cut, his lower legs now felt the breeze from the ocean. He left the trash from the first aid kit, along with the cut denim and the blood drenched sock, on the beach. It'd be weird to go around with one sock now, but surely he could find another. He was going to be uncomfortable here; that he already had accepted.

Noah gathered his supplies and Sawlaska and began to walk from the shoreline. He needed to find the girls, or anyone friendly for that matter. He could start with the areas they had been before, and he was likely to have time before sunset.

Noah continued to chuckle to his leprechaun joke as he walked away. He wouldn't have many times to laugh here, but as long as he could keep finding a reason to laugh and smile, maybe this experience wouldn't be so bad.

Right?

((Noah Whitley continued in The List of Adrian Messenger))