Free Ending ELE (ELE Series) by Rebecca Gober, Courtney Nuckels

in confusion, trying to figure out what the heck he’s doing.
    “ Watch, ” I hear him say in my head. Without asking, I know he means to watch Sebastian. I turn my attention to my little brother. Then it dawns on me; Sebastian is going to copy what Tony just did—or is he? He is still standing in the middle of the logs with a look of utter confusion on his face. I see him take a deep breath, shrug his shoulders, and then he’s off to the races. He runs as fast as his little legs can go, does ten jumping jacks… well, as good as a youngster can manage, then sprints off the log and jumps into Tony’s waiting arms.
    A smile spreads across my face. Someday that may be our own child he’s catching. I shake my head, embarrassed for even having that thought. Tony looks up and meets my eyes from across the river in that same moment. I feel the warmth flooding to my cheeks, knowing he heard me. Tony just smiles at me adoringly and winks at me in agreement.
    My dad, who ’s been standing next to me, leans over and whispers in my ear. “Yep, he’s a keeper.” He playfully jabs me with his elbow in my side and I can’t help but laugh.
    “ Dad!” I say, feigning embarrassment.
    All the rest of us make our way over the bridge. At the end, Tony takes my hand and helps me step down off the logs.
    “ The cabin should be only a little ways to the west of here,” Tony tells me.
    I nod my head and look up at the sky. The snow is starting to fall again. I hope it won ’t get as bad as it did yesterday.
    “ Wello! Wello!” I hear a little voice call from my side. I turn and find Sebastian with his hands in the air. I grab him in my arms and we continue walking towards the cabin. All the while, I’m praying we’re going the right way.
    We wade through the snow like a duck wading through water. The snow is still pretty deep and continuing to accumulate. I’m hoping that maybe the weather will warm up a bit in the next few days so the snow can begin to melt. I feel chilled to the bone and I almost find myself wishing for the crazy high temperatures that we had when they first implemented Project ELE.
    After an hour or so of hiking, Tony reaches for Sebastian and places him on his shoulders. Sabby giggles at being so high up. He reaches his hands towards the sky and slaps the tree branches in the air as we go by. One of the branches must have been packed with snow, because Sebastian hits it and a huge wad of snow lands on Tony’s head. I can’t hold back the laugh as Tony becomes a human snowman. Tony tickles him and Sabby wiggles in delight.
    Tony passes me a sideways glance and smiles. Grabbing my hand in his, he starts walking again. I look back at the others who are with us and notice my dad and Carrie carrying on what looks to be a very interesting conversation. Carrie lets out a huge laugh and my dad smiles, a genuine smile… one that I haven’t seen in a very long time.
    Tony sets my brother down. Sabby runs over to tag Lillie and they run around us as we walk, playing their own game of tag. They can’t run very far because of the snow being so deep. Lillie and Sabby alternate being ‘it’ every few seconds or so.
    I look at everyone around me . Even in the snow, they all seem to be in pretty good spirits. Then I bite my lip because I know from experience that things just can’t be going this well for this long. Something is bound to happen soon and it’s going to discombobulate us all. Call me a pessimist, or a glass half-full kind of girl… but I’m just keeping it real.
    Tony squeezes my hand, bringing me back to the present. Instinctively, he can tell that something is up. Thankfully, he doesn’t ask questions or search my mind for answers.
    After a few more minutes of walking, Tony stops. “The cabin should be around here somewhere.” He looks around the landscape for a moment, lost in thought, trying to put the pieces together with what he saw from the binoculars back in the cave.
    I try to look around