When the sun rose the next morning, they all rose with it, feeling refreshed and hungry. They ate a small breakfast and packed some more food to bring with them. Clay and Corliss laughed and joked, and Julia looked on unhappily. 

“We should go.” She said abruptly, turning and heading into the woods.

As they walked, they listened to the birds chirping in the trees, and the sound of the river rushing over stones. Julia was walking ahead, and Clay trotted up next to her. 

“Uh, hey Julia, how are you doing?” He asked awkwardly, looking down at the ground in a fruitless effort to hide his nervousness. She glanced at him and then ahead towards the trees.

“I’m fine.” She avoided his gaze and quickened her step.

Clay looked on in bewilderment, then shook his head and kept walking. Corliss came over to him. 

“Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know, it seems like Julia is mad at me.”

“Oh, don’t mind her, she’s always so grumpy, and anyway, you’ve got me to keep you company.”

He nodded, but he didn’t seem very comforted. At last they got to a ruined house and began to search for scraps of wood. They soon had a big pile of the wood and they brought it back to the cave, then set out to get more. They continued in this way till midafternoon, only stopping to eat some lunch. By the time they got done they had a great pile of wood outside the cave and they had found some nails too. Using stones as hammers Aiken and Clay built a small shelf while Corliss made a fire, and Alder and Julia went fishing. 

Julia watched as Alder patiently waited for a fish to swim by, then with lightning speed he grabbed the fish and passed it to her to skin. He got two small ones and four big ones, and then stopped to help gut and clean the fish. He worked silently and quickly, clearly experienced in cleaning fish. Julia, on the other hand, kept getting cut by the fish’s sharp scales. Alder looked over and shook his head.

“Your doing it wrong, let me show you how to do it.”

He gently took her hands in his and guided them, showing her what to do. She blushed and looked at his face, which was intently focused on what he was doing. He let go and made her show him that she knew how to do it now, and after she had shown him, he returned to his own fish. Soon they were done and headed back to the others.

Reader participation is encouraged!!! Please comment who you ship, Julia and Clay, Clay and Corliss, Julia and Alder, etc. 

This story is awesome, I love it!!!

JULIA AND ALDERRRRRRRRRR 

okay-the shipping vibe im getting is Corliss likes Clay, Clay likes Julia, Julia is torn between Alder and Clay, and Alder has a teeny-tiny crush on Julia. ITS AN ENDLESS CIRCLE LOL

but i would really like Clay to reveal he has a crush on someone else, and Alder and Julia are shipped. um, thats it, but maybe Clay could like a boy, in honor of Pride Month? <3

I'v already written the story and am post in it in part so that wouldn't work but maybe in another book? 🙂

            When they got back, they laid the fish out to dry and admired the shelf, which was actually quite well made, considering the situation. Dinner was prepared and eaten, and they set to work storing the food on their new shelf. Once they were done, they sat around the fire, watching the sun set, and admiring its golden rays. Corliss was sitting on a log next to Aiken, and she took a deep breath of fresh air, but the contented look on her face turned to one of disgust. 

            “Someone stinks!” She exclaimed, wrinkling her nose. Everyone sniffed the air, and then themselves, and looked up with frowns on their faces.

            “We all stink” Clay said, “We should take the day off tomorrow and go swimming.” Everyone agreed wholeheartedly. Strawberries were brought out for dessert, and their sweetness soon made everyone forget about the smell. It grew dark and they all went to bed.

            In the morning they headed to the river, laughing and enjoying the beautiful sunlight, which played through the trees and danced about their feet. They were soon at the river and jumped right into to the cool water, swimming and splashing each other. The whole of the morning was passed in this way, the only mishap being when Corliss thought she had a leech on her leg, and she ran shrieking out of the water, kicking her leg to try and shake it off. Her brothers rushed to save her from the fearsome leech, which turned out to be a little plant. Of course, this sparked Aiken’s imagination and he grabbed a slimy plant and brushed it against Corliss’s leg to get her to scream, which in turn caused Clay to grab him and dunk him in the water, which incited a war of dunking and splashing which finally ended when Clay finally admitted defeat.

            At noon they all laid out in the grass to let the sun dry their clothes. They munched on strawberries and fish, and looked up at the clouds, calling out suddenly when they saw one shaped like a rabbit, or a duck, or a house, or anything they could think of. Clay and Julia were right next to each other on the grass, and Clay turned to Julia and pointed at a small cloud floating high above their heads. 

“That one looks like a heart.” He said quietly to her, a small, shy smile hovering about his lips. She turned to him and met his gaze.

“Yeah, it does.” That was all she said, but something about how she said it made Clay feel sure she wasn’t mad at him anymore. 

Also, I would strongly encourage that you put your ideas into your own book and write and post it on here, I would totally read it:) That way you don't have to wait for me to finish writng this one and then do another one, and I have plenty of story ideas that I can give you if you want.

Mmm, I think ClayXJulia, Clay's just being friendly to Corliss.

EEK! please keep going!!! I love love LOVE it!

After they had eaten, they sat for while just enjoying the warm sun on their skin. Aiken swallowed the last of his fish and made a face.

“This fish is good and all, but it’s getting old.” They all agreed, but it seemed there was no alternative. But then Alder spoke up. 

“I could make a snare to catch rabbits.” Julia looked at him in amazement. Was there anything he couldn’t do, any challenge he couldn’t overcome? Yet even as she thought this Clay took her hand in his, and she tore her thoughts away from Alder and squeezed Clay’s hand, ignoring the look she got from Corliss.

“That would be great.” Clay said, “We could use the skins for clothing and bags.” He turned to Julia. “Is there some way you could sew the skins?” She nodded, 

“I can use sharp fish bones, and if we cut some of the skins in thin strips, I can use that for thread.” Clay smiled at her, that warm, caring smile of his, and she blushed and smiled back. Corliss stood up then and walked away into the woods. Aiken stood to go after her, but Alder pulled him down.

“She’ll be fine, she just needs some time.” After that everyone sat awkwardly, unsure what to do. Finally, Clay stood up, letting go of Julia’s hand.

“Alder, why don’t we go work on that rabbit snare.” Alder nodded and stood, following Clay. Aiken called for them to wait for him and ran after them, leaving Julia alone. She sighed and lay back on the grass, listening to the splashing of the river until she drifted off to sleep.

She woke to the sound of feet moving towards her, she sat up and saw Corliss emerging from the woods, a triumphant smile on her face. She sat down next to Julia and opened up her hand. Julia gasped when she saw what was in it. There were two sharp needles, a spool of thread, and a thimble, all wrapped in a handkerchief.

please please please keep posting! I lobe it!!!!!!!!!!