She was like a sunflower

[Pippi]

((Beatrice Briggs continued from The World Has Been Changed (Do You Want To Save It?)))

She was starting to recognise each divot and bump in this rough old road.

How many times had she walked along it, now? And not even the road in its entirety, this specific stretch of it, flanked by trees on one side and a titanic wall of stone on the other. Far too frequently to count at this point. It felt rather like she’d spent the last few days confined to one half of the island, trotting back and forth, and to and fro. She felt more than just a small pang of regret over that. There was so much of the island she still was yet to see, and if she was being honest to herself, that she would never end up seeing. The downed plane. The beach and the coastline. The old mine.

So many people in those locations she would never get to see again.

But she was hopeful, not stupid. Naive, potentially, but not clueless. She knew, realistically, that she only had a limited amount of time left. She was only one girl. She could only do so much. And ‘so much’ certainly didn’t stretch out into being able to cover every inch of the island in the span of a single day. She knew she couldn’t save everyone. She knew she had to try anyway. And she knew that sometimes you just had to make a decision, before one was made for you.

‘Pick your battles’. That had been another one of her dad’s favourite phrases - she loved her father dearly, so unbelievably dearly, but he did have a habit of being a walking quotation machine on some days. It was appropriate for this moment, though. Because what did she have left, right now? She had just parted with two friends, who she hoped would never ever cross her path again. She had a map, which told her where to go but not what she would find there. She had people that she needed to help, but they weren’t with her right now.

She had a funeral invite, in her pocket.

So that was the path she needed to take, that was the battle she would fight. Before her path up the mountain was blocked off, and before she herself was laid to rest wherever she might fall. It would be a lonely journey, this time. She was already bracing herself for her tears to carve familiar tracks down her face. But it was a trek she knew that she had to make - and more importantly, one that she knew she’d be able to. She didn’t know if she could ever be as brave as Rebekah, or as strong as Jessica, but she would do her best to even brush her fingers against those lofty heights.

The tarmac behind her was split and cracked through years of neglect, weakening day by day. Bright green, green grass had broken up through it, translucent in the light of the sun, reaching up to grasp the dawn, holding on with fragile fingers, and never letting go.

((Beatrice Briggs continued in And the universe said ‘I love you’))