To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

They never found the little creek with its bridge connecting their path to the one on the other side. Instead, they came to a wide, rushing river that neither of them had ever seen before, and there was no bridge in sight. "Now what?" Natalie asked. The mysterious presence of the river didn't bother her a bit; she simply smiled at Joe and waited for him to come up with another amazing plan. Joe didn't hesitate. "We go up and over." He reached out his hand, she took it, and they faced the river together and jumped. And just like that, they were flying. Over the river they flew, and over the tops of more trees, and suddenly there was a giant mountain in front of them, and they flew up the side of the mountain until they passed the last of the trees and came to a meadow full of grass, flowers, birds, and butterflies. They came down for a landing, turned around, and looked out over the landscape that stretched out before them. There was no sign of the city they had come from.