“On three, what?” I wasn’t always this difficult,but I wasn’t always within arm’s reach of such easy entertainment. Esther was the opposite of a riot. And Wilson’s dad jokes were so unfunny they almost hurt.
Rae looked exasperated, her gaze so pointed I thought it might pierce me. “On three, you pull me out.”
I chewed on my bottom lip, holding back a smile as I nodded. She counted us off, and I did as I was told, tugging her toward me. It only took one good pull, and Rae was free. Her white sneaker remained in the hole.
“Wow…” I whispered, watching the shoe slowly disappear. “It’s…sinking.”
The shoelaces bid us a long goodbye as they got swallowed in the thick mud.
“Like I said.” Rae tried to catch her breath; her exhales tickled my ear.
If it hadn’t been such a bizarre sight to witness, my skin would have burned underneath the imprint of her fingers. We were roughly the same height and stood aligned at the waist. Rae leaned into me, applying slight pressure against my hipbone.
“Is that typical?” she asked. “Your land attempting to devour a visitor?”
I almost laughed before catching her gaze. The question was genuine.
“A recent development.”
“What’s your hypothesis?” Her breath smelled sweet.
“Isn’t that why I’m paying you the big bucks?”
Rae wobbled, leaning on me more to help herself balance on one foot. “I like to give everyone the chance to share their ideas with the class.”
“Sinkhole,” I said simply.
“A sinkhole randomly appeared and did that to me andonly me?” She nudged her chin at the now-gravesite of her sneaker.
“It could happen.”
“Anything could happen,” she agreed.
“Not anything.”
“But a sinkhole could, because it fits within the realm of your limited imagination?”
I opened my mouth but couldn’t think of a retort quickly enough.
“I found it!” Jonah announced through labored breath as he jogged to us. “It wasn’t charged, so I had to find new batteries. But those weren’t in their usual place. So, I had to call December, but the signal was spotty. We tried to text, but everything came through slowly.”
I let go of Rae as she reached for the EMF. She wasn’t ready for the release, gasping as her foot landed in mud that soaked right through her gray socks. I closed one eye, guilt churning in my stomach when she glared at me.
“Jonah?” she asked through a heavy exhale. “Grab me a new pair of socks and shoes, will you?”
“On it!” he said without hesitation.
“The EMF.” She held out her hand before he could leave. “Give me the EMF first…please.”
The politeness was an afterthought. An add-on when she saw me staring at her, unimpressed.
“You’ll need boots out here. Sneakers only cut it when it’s not raining.”
“No shoe’s going to stand the test of that.” She crouched down a few feet away from where her sneaker had disappeared. I frowned at the empty patch of mud.
“I’m sure it’s—” I cut off when Rae turned on the EMF. It looked like a walkie; there was a tuning dial and a bright red light showing use. The high-pitched beep it emitted sentmy eardrums vibrating. I winced, slamming my hands over my ears. Rae barely blinked. In all her wet-sock glory, she moved closer; the pitch climbed.
“What the hell!” A nerve behind my eyes pinched, a warning sign of an impending migraine.
