Page 112 of Mountain Grump

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Tilda

My eyes blink open,and I look at the blue sky stretching before me.

The plane shakes, like we’re flying through turbulence, but it stops a moment later.

I yawn.

I hadn’t meant to fall asleep. But seeing my family always exhausts me. And I didn’t sleep well last night since I was stressing about today.

Today.Who could’ve seen that coming?

I shift in my seat, opening my mouth to ask Ethan how much time is left, when I notice something.

The quiet.

The lack of rumble.

I stare out the windshield at the propeller.

It’s spinning.

Is it going slower?

“Ethan?”

He’s doing something to something on the complicated dashboard. The dashboard with a blank screen in the middle.

I lift one side of my headphones.

It’s too quiet.

“Ethan?” Panic laces my tone.

He sighs and drops his hand from the dials back to the steering wheel thing.

“Ethan?” I whisper it this time.

He looks at me. His dark glasses block me from seeing his full expression. But he doesn’t look worried.

Maybe it’s fine? Maybe I just thought it was loud before because I was nervous.

“We’re going to land,” Ethan says calmly.

And I look forward, back out the windshield.

But there’s nothing.

No airfield.

No city.

Just mountains and an endless forest.

I try to keep my voice even. “Where?”

“Up ahead. There’s a strip of clear land beside a stream.”

My heartbeat starts to dance. “Why?”

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