Episode 60: Scene Three
Trace shifted his backpack higher onto his back before smiling at his two best buddies. He threw an arm around each of their shoulders and began walking towards the base of the large, rocky hill. "Are you ready for the greatest experience of your life, boys?"
"If you're talking about busting my head on those spawns of Godzilla up there, then I'm thinking not," Allan grumbled, throwing his backpack down to the ground.
Trace, Allan, and Brent had left the carnival to retrieve their hiking packs. Hours earlier, Trace had decided the best way to take their minds off their problems would be to involve themselves in Trace's favorite activity: hiking. Once Trace made up his mind, the decision had been final. That's just the way Trace operated.
"I say we make it to the top and just stay up there. No one'll notice that we're gone," Brent said.
"If I recall correctly, you were gone for days without any explanation around this time last year," Allan slipped the sentence in casually, though he knew it would upset Brent.
Brent shivered as he recalled the entire ordeal that he and Mel Clark had gone through a year earlier. He had never been to the secret room again, nor had he heard from Mr. X, but he hadn't forgotten how frightened he had been during his containment. "Allan, let's not talk about that."
Allan raised his hands to avoid conflict. "Whatever you say, man. Let's just get this show on the road, okay?"
"Sounds good to me!" Trace beamed before starting up towards the base again.
"By the way, Trace, have you heard anything about a funeral for Kim?" Brent inquired.
Trace paused briefly. He scratched his head and wrinkled his forehead. "You know, I haven't heard anything from Old Fart or his gassy henchman. Whatever they do is up to them."
"But you were so gung ho about paying your last respects to Kim and-"
A raised hand silenced Brent. Trace smiled and said simply, "We're moving on, Brent. The three of us. Together."
Allan put a flattened hand out. "To moving on and rebuilding."
"To moving on and rebuilding," Trace and Brent echoed, placing their hands on top of one another.
And with that the three young men embarked on a symbolical journey up the hill: higher and higher they would climb until finally they would reach what they had set out for. Three different young men turned the page to a new chapter in each of their lives, a chapter they felt sure would be much greater than the last.