Rough Silk

Another day. Another seemingly endless day of trekking through the wilderness, looking for anything that might possibly mean food or shelter. Looking for a town. Traveling miles and miles before collapsing onto holey blankets with rocks serving as our pillows.
That really made me want to smack those nutty people who say things like, "Save it for a rainy day" and "Life's full of wonderful things." I wanted to shout in their faces, "My mom's dead, I'm practically starving to death, and I've got nowhere to go! I'm only fourteen! Face it! It's pouring!"
I grimaced and raised my foot. As it came down, the rock beneath it gave way. I slipped and skidded all the way back down the hill. As I looked up at Vanessa and Melissa's surprised and concerned faces, I realized how steep the hill really was. More like a mountain. And I had to climb all the way back up.
Well, crap.
Fire scrambled down to my side. I smiled at him. He was really an incredibly cute dog, his eyes a liquid brown and his face taking on such an innocent quality that it made him seem almost human. I hiked up to where the kids were waiting and we resumed our walk.
When the sun was about halfway up in the sky, we reached the top of the treacherous hill. I sucked in my breath as I surveyed the landscape below.
I could see a town, with small dots that I assumed were people moving slowly around. I mentally slapped myself for not buying binoculars.
We literally slid down the hill and raced each other to the entrance. "Last one in's a mutated ant!" Melissa called. I grinned, knowing that it was supposed to be "rotten egg", not "mutated ant". But it fit.
"My feet are sore," Vanessa puffed.
"I'm hungry," Melissa complained.
"Suck it up," I teased.
Fire barked and won the race.