We’re home. I should be elated and relieved, but I have mixed emotions. I can’t calm the butterflies in my stomach or shake my feeling of apprehension. So much has happened in the weeks since Ryan and I were caught in the flood. I don’t feel like the same person who left the base. It’s silly, but I worry my friends won’t recognize me anymore. A branch crackles under Ryan’s foot and I caution, “We should say something so they know we’re here. We don’t want to surprise them. They might think we’re something that wants to eat them.” Ryan nods, cups his hands around his mouth, and belts out a long, “H-e-l-l-o-o-o?” “Who’s there?” answers a confused and alarmed voice. With a devilish grin, Ryan looks back at me and winks. “You’ll have to see us to believe us,” he yells. The group is closer than I thought. We hear their whispered concerns. No one is assigned to the surrounding grid areas. Another team couldn’t possibly be this far off course by accident.
