Point of view: realistic fiction 7

The Edge of the Map

1. Somewhere along our hike, Ana Lucia and I lost the silvery stream we’d been following and by the time we realized it, we’d gone beyond the boundaries of our map. The sun had begun to lower and the October air was growing chillier—we needed to make a wise decision fast.
2. Ana Lucia wanted to reverse our direction and weave back through the trails, but I thought this strategy was too risky.
3. “What if the trails bring us farther away from civilization and we never make it back? We could starve out here or worse," I argued.

4. “We’ve explored these woods our entire lives. Something’s bound to look familiar. Can’t you just trust that we’ll know how to get back on the trail?”
5. I stared at the wet sneakers that covered my cold toes and shook my head.
6. “I’m too scared," I admitted. “We’ve never gone off the map before. We should settle here and get a fire roaring. In an hour, we’ll miss dinner and our parents will call the park rangers and they’ll see the smoke.”
7. “C’mon Madeline, the dramatic rescue isn’t necessary. Your fear is overriding your good sense.”
8. “Sometimes, fear’s a gift—it’s the brain’s mechanism to keep us out of danger.” I yanked off my backpack and squatted in the brush. I wasn’t going anywhere so I started piling dry kindling.
9. Ana Lucia stomped around, staring up into the sky. If I wasn’t so angry, I’d have to laugh. Ana Lucia did stuff like this all the time—like she was some warrior goddess summoning the stars or something.
10. Finally, she got her answer, turned, and smiled.
11. “This is what we do: go off in four lines, like this—” She grabbed a stick from my hand and drew a cross in the dirt. “We each take two sides. If nothing looks familiar, turn around and come back to the middle. We can always set up camp if this doesn’t work.”
12. So we tried it her way. Off we went in opposite directions, tying strings to branches as we went. Neither of us found anything at first and followed our markers back to the center.
13. As I searched again, I realized something big about my life—I would always want to play it safe, and Ana Lucia would always push me to my limit.
14. “Madeline, are you OK?” Ana Lucia called.
15. The sound of mud squishing around my foot stopped me in my tracks. Could it be? I took a few more steps, and the earth got wetter.
16. I whooped into the air, “This way! The stream is nearby!”
17. Together again, my best friend and I quickly discovered the trail that brought us back onto the same map.