the difference

Our town, the houses, the people.

Everything is gone.

Something went wrong, or everything was right.

We don't know. All we do know is, our parents are gone.

And we were alone.

All of us were on a school bus. Heading for a field trip. And as we woke up, we were somehow in our beds again. At home, in our town. Instead of on the bus, like we were supposed to be.

This morning we woke up and it was like any other!

Except it wasn't.

It's like the world flipped upside down. And we were thrown out into space.

Except we weren't, and the world wasn't.

And now it's night. And we're still lost.

And we can't call for help. The internet is gone.

The store aisles are filled with food. We took anything we wanted.

It was a mess.

We tried to go through the woods on the highway.

It didn't work. The forest is almost endless.

And on the way there, a girl got bit by a poisonous snake.

She died.

And we had to bury her. We had to bury one of our own.

We're only 15. The 'little kids' people call us.

The 'ones who think they know everything but don't'

And they're right. We don't know anything.

We were excited at first.

No parents, no rules.

Free food!

We're not excited anymore. We're scared, tired, and absolutely alone.

We're inside the old church on Hickory Lane.

The one that everyone thinks is abandoned and broken.

Guess what! It's not.

It's warm. And safe. At least we think we're safe.

"We've gotta try again." somebody stands up. "We can't sit around and wait for something to happen. Nothing will happen! We're stuck! We're on our own forever now. And you've gotta accept it!" he continued. "And if you don't want to accept it, then maybe you need to rethink your options. Because guess what. There are none." he stops.

Some people roll their eyes, and there's a sarcastic clap every 2 seconds.

Turns out it's coming from one person. The guys' sister.

She stands and slowly trudges right up to her brothers face and says in a whisper that wasn't really a whisper because everyone could hear, "Rethink your options. Hah... you're funny, brother."

She turns around and faces all of us as she slowly moves toward the front of the church. "Did you hear that, everyone? He wants us to 'rethink our options.'" she scoffed.

A couple chuckles echoed 'round the room.

"Brother, brother, brother. You're wrong. We do have other options. And our options are to survive as long as we can, or to survive as long as we can." she grinned. "And if you're not ready to accept that, then I think you've gotta rethink your options."

A couple people clapped and others murmured choruses of 'fo real' and 'no cap'

After all, we are 14 and 15 year olds.

Her brother, by the name of James, rolled his eyes and walked up to her on the stage. "Brielle, you think you're smart huh? You think you're so cool and that you've got the best ideas and plans huh? Well here's the hard truth, Brielle. You're not! I'm the one thinking ahead right now. And think about it for a sec will ya? What happens when all the food gets eaten? And what happens when the water runs out? Will we all starve? And die? And be known as the town that disappeared out of nowhere, where a bunch of teenagers died 'a sad and painful death'?!? You, Brielle, is the one who needs to rethink your options." James pointed his finger straight at her face.

"No! I don't! You think i'm stupid for trying to protect all of us? Then tell me your plan, James. Is your plan going out into the dark and scary woods and traveling long and hard miles and miles of expanse and letting someone die again? I don't think so. We've literally had a person DIE! Do you remember that? Do you remember how we all buried her right in the ground behind the church? It was hard, James. Really, really hard. I can't let that happen again." Brielle stops. She puts her hands on her hips and sighs.

James looks at her for a moment, then says, "Look around, sis. There's people here wanting to do something. Stop thinking only about yourself, and stop thinking that you're better than everyone, and that you're the leader out of all of us."

"I am not! I'm trying to help! Stop dominating everything all the time!"

"Me? Dominating? All the time? What are you talking about, Bri? I've been in your shadow all the time! Since we were 5 i've always been trying to prove to our parents that I can be cool too! That I can do this or I can do that, and every single time YOU were still better. And I was the weak little boy. Even though i'm only 5 minutes younger than you." James says. "And yet again you're dominating."

"No i'm not! That has never been true and I have never, eve-" Brielle was cut off by a shout.

"Guys! Look! Up there! In the sky!" somebody stands up.

And one by one everyone gets up and starts running.

There way up in the sky, we spotted a helicopter.

Everyone started shouting and waving their arms.

People got their phones out and started waving their flashlights around. After about 20 minutes of yelling and waving, the helicopter flew down and we were all hopeful.

Then we heard the door of the helicopter slide open.

And as we all stared, a figure came out.

A boy rushed up to him and shone the flashlight in his face.

"Sir? Sir, you needa help us. We're stuck. In a virtual reality! What is going on? Please help us, sir. We're just kids!"

Then, as our eyes got accustomed to the bright light, we noticed that the figure was wearing a big, weird mask.

Well, more like a safety costume with a big mask.

And instead of answering Jack, who was trying to explain what had happened, the man walked right by all of us like he couldn't see us and kept walking.

Jack stopped mid-sentence and watched him go. "Uh..Sir...?"

And now as we all sit in complete darkness remembering that horrific moment, and remembering how the man walked right back into the helicopter, and flew away like nothing ever happened, we slowly realize what happened.

And everything starts to make sense.

We're not in the upside down. We weren't thrown out into space.

And we're not lost.

Well, maybe we are lost. In a different way.

But the correct statement right now is that we're dead.

And that's the difference between being lost.